Two Roads Diverged
by Blair
Summary: Sirius is confronted by a forgotten woman from his past, and her daughter. Draco finds himself lost in the mansion of the same woman's daughter. Mystery, love, adventure, wit, suspense, talking to goblins, breaking into forbidden areas, staying up way pas
1. Breaking Through Chains

AN: This story takes place starting in July 1981, Harry is almost one year old, and James and Lilly are 21, and have been married for 2 years. They are holding a party to celebrate their two-year anniversary. It moves off the common theory that Sirius was somewhat of a "player" before he went to Azkaban. And explores the possibilities of what might have come of the daughter of one of the many women of his past, his daughter, although he doesn't know it. It starts out in the early 80's but will soon move forwards to the late 90s. Make sure to note if there are any signs of changing dates, so that it will make sense. This is my first fic, the beginning is a little slow but after the first two pages it really picks up. The beginning is slower because it is a little more explanatory, than it is action, so that everything makes sense. I will only continue this if I get reviews :). I certainly hope that you all like this, I worked very hard on it, so I hope I don't get too many flames, but just in case I'll be wearing my flame retardant pajamas :). Please don't review this without reading the whole thing, because I know that Sirius starts out a little OOC but that's because being in Azkaban changed him a lot. So, once he is out of Azkaban he will be more in character. Constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome, because I would love to make this series the best it can possibly be!   
  
Looking in on Godric's hollow one would have never guessed that the world could be so dark. These people, standing together, inside all seemed to be having a wondrous time, and all thoughts of the difficulties of a life in fear seemed rather far removed. Yet, they could never truly be removed, for they lived in a place that they could not be evicted from, their hearts. All happiness was a façade, and the world lost some of its greatest actors in those days, the people who could pretend to feel nothing, could shield themselves from the horror, from the utter chaos.   
  
Inside this house, the music played upbeat songs, and the tables were lined with drinks, yet it took a true hostess to make the difference. It took a true hostess to be able to convince everyone that for one night they deserved the chance to rest their minds from the pure fear, and this hostess was Lilly. Few people could turn down the chance to escape for a few hours and enter the peaceful domain of the Potters, and tonight was no exception.  
  
People stood in huddles, making small talk and being polite, the conversation seemed rather forced. It was hard, when you could not talk about the thing that plagued your every step, the one thing that you couldn't help but think of. Yet Voldemort was a strictly off topic area, one of the unwritten rules of society.   
  
Yet one member of this group seemed almost as though he had been living in a box, for his actions betrayed not the slightest hint of realization of the hard times all around. He stood in a corner, surrounded by women, yet certainly not bothered by it in the least.  
  
"Hey girl, you must be tired, cause you been running through my mind all night," Sirius slyly told one of the women, with a devilish grin.  
  
The entire group collapsed into giggles except for one woman who stood tall with a look of total abhorrence. She was dressed beautifully in a green dress, which was strapless, and down to the floor. Her eyes seemed to hold the light of the world, but when she looked at him it quickly turned to ice. Her hair, long, straight, and a beautiful shade of brown, flowed over her shoulders and it almost seemed as if magic was holding it in its place. She was obviously not wearing makeup, yet she glowed from the inside out.   
  
"Very witty," she said curtly "I can see that must have taken ages to think of, I'm impressed," but her tone clearly told another story.  
  
"Thanks," he said in a mocking voice "I wrote it just for you," and his lips curled into a charming grin.  
  
"Ah, well in that case, I can die in peace," She remarked airily, throwing a hand theatrically over her forehead.  
  
She then realized that they were alone, the entire group of ladies had dispersed itself, annoyed with no longer being the center of attention. The closest group of people was halfway across the room, and she wasn't sure if this fact thrilled her, or frightened her.  
  
"So sorry, I seem to have caused the revolt of your group of charming friends, and I'm sure they were all set to become nuclear physicists."  
  
"You can make up for it by having a drink with me, after you first tell me your name," he added quickly.  
  
"My name is Andromeda, and I would not have a drink with you even if you promised to poison yours."   
  
"Charmed, I'm sure, my name is Sirius, and I am unfortunately not about to make promises that I cannot keep, for I fear it would break the hearts of too many women if I were to die tonight."  
  
"Sirius?" she mused "As in the Dog Star? Well that's certainly fitting, almost uncanny," she added with contempt.  
  
"Ah, let us not forget that yours is the chained maiden, and you certainly don't seem to be very outgoing. "  
  
She winced, as though she had been struck, but quickly composed herself in time to say "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Not outgoing, my ass!"  
  
"Ah yes, and what a beautiful one it is. But honestly you come here as though you have never seen a social gathering in your life. You have no disposition to be friendly, or even pretend to be friendly. The way you present yourself shows that you have obviously been studying for a long time, for something extremely important, so forgive me for saying this, but you DON'T have a life."  
  
"Oh yes I do!" She announced, not ready to be the loser of any verbal battle, "Grab your coat, you're taking me out for that drink."  
  
She turned on her heel and stormed from the room in a passion of utter rage at falling into the so obvious trap, but she figured oh well, at least I can be a damn nuisance by drinking so much that it costs a fortune.   
  
"Well," she started the impatience obvious in her voice, " Where is your car."  
  
"Right here," he explained motioning to the enchanted motorbike.  
  
He handed her a helmet, which after checking it for some sort of tricks, she placed over her head. He sat down on the leather seat, and she mused once again that if she didn't detest him so much she would have found him damn sexy.   
  
She swung her leg over the seat of the bike, and lowered herself down behind him.  
  
"Hold on tight!" He exclaimed as he kicked the bike into gear.   
  
At first the idea of even touching him turned her stomach, but as the car whipped through the air, shaking with every turn, she gave up and threw her arms around him for dear life. She could have sworn she heard him chuckle, but she didn't dare ask, for fear of learning the answer.  
  
Meanwhile Sirius was pondering the situation at hand. Pretty girl, smart, refreshing, I can bring her around. She'd make for a nice change of pace compared to the normal idiots I usually see. But hmmm, should I really do that to her? Oh well, whatever she gets herself into she asks for, she's a free agent, and I'm certainly not her father.  
  
The bike pulled into the parking lot outside the local pub, and after lowering himself to the ground he offered her a hand down, which to his surprise she accepted, though it may simply have been because of her lightheadedness, she was obviously not familiar with that form of transportation. They walked into the pub together and sat down at the stools near the counter.  
  
After ordering some drinks they began conversation, she simply skipped over all the small talk and broached the subject which had been on her mind during the flight, and among other things how tight his abs were, "What do you do for a living?"  
  
"Well," he began, "I'm training to be an Auror."  
  
"What happened, did they have a shortage at the brain factory, or was it simply national "Feel Bad for the Idiots Day" because I always forget to mark that one down on my calendar."  
  
"Well, I can see that you have never heard of grace," he paused to smile slyly, "which makes you all the more interesting."  
  
"I have heard of grace, the question is have you heard of manners."  
  
"I usually reserve them for people who I feel deserve it," he answered not the slightest bit abashed.  
  
"Well, your reserves must be over flowing, might I suggest making a donation to the "People Who Give a Damn Society."  
  
"I've tried, they always send back my checks, something about morals."  
  
"What the fact that they want them, or the fact that you lack them?" She asked with contempt.  
  
"Fine, then what do you do?"  
  
"I am studying to be legal wizard." She replied with a sense of dignity and pride.  
  
"Ah, so that's where you get your big words from." He smiled at her waiting for her remark.  
  
"I'm sorry, how rude of me, if I confuse you just tell me, I'm sure we can think of a layman's word which will do quite fine." Her lips curled downward, but her eyes were shinning, unable to hide the fun she was having at this battle of words.  
  
Several drinks later they were both rather tipsy. She mentioned something about being tired, her eyes fluttered, it was hard to keep the ceiling and the floor from becoming one image in her head, which was spinning so rapidly, and suddenly leaned in to passionately kiss him. He hesitated, but only for a second, before bending his head to meet her lips.   
She was having hallucinations of reality and fantasy, but none of this mattered for she was living her fantasy and the last thing she could remember was entering a strange apartment, which she had never seen before. She could feel him kissing her, and she was aware faintly of the fact that she was kissing him back. Her heart was racing, threatening to explode, and she could feel the tremors that he sent racing through her body. It was like being on fire, and yet she loved it, she felt so alive, and the brandy gave her a feeling of false warmth and strength. She ran he fingers through his hair, all the while aware of the fact that he was picking her up in his arms, arms that were so heavy, arms that were just right for holding her. He was leading her through the flat, and if she had been even half as drunk she would have known where he was taking her.  
*~*  
The next morning she woke to feel the pounding in her head, it was like no other feeling she had ever experienced. She lie there for a long time not wanting to open her eyes, because she knew the pain in her head would just increase with the light. Thoughts of the night before flooded back to her but the last thing she could remember was being at a bar, a bar with some man, some man named, oh what was he named? Oh well, it didn't matter, keeping her eyes shut, she leaned over the side of her bed to find her slippers. Where did those damn slippers get to? She ran her hands along the wooden floor searching for them. Wait a second, her bedroom floor was certainly not wooden, it was a push green carpet!  
  
Her eyes immediately flew open to survey her surroundings. She was in a small room, with a high ceiling, and a wooden floor. The walls were covered with Wizard Photos, who were all asleep in their frames. In the corner a small desk stood, made of oak, with a matching chair. She could see papers stacked tall on the desk, and as she approached it she could read the heading on the first one. In bold, big letters, were the words:   
  
Mr. Sirius Black  
  
She didn't even bother to read any further, for she couldn't care less about where she was. At the moment all she wanted to do was figure out why the hell she was there in the first place, naked from head to toe. She sat down on the bed and willed herself to remember the night before, and it came back, in small pieces.   
  
She began to remember, first she remembered being extremely drunk, she could recall kissing him, and she vividly remembered the wild ride to his apartment. She remembered his hands on her body, the hands of the man she would rather have killed than laid eyes on. She recalled the soft words in her ears, and her own acceptance of him doing so. If she hadn't been resolved on discovering the truth, she might have stopped to be disgusted at the fact that she had spent the night with some man that she had met the night before, and had allowed him to know her in the most intimate of ways.   
  
When she was satisfied that she had dug up as much as her memory would reveal, she wondered aloud. "And where the heck is Sirius, anyway!"  
  
She walked around the room picking up her scattered belongings and dressed into her clothes from the night before. She proceeded to open the door of the bedroom into the halls outside. Even though she had been there the night before it was as if she was seeing it for the first time ever.   
  
Passing the dinning room with a crystal chandelier she noted that he was not inside, and continued. He was not to be found in the kitchen, which was in desperate need of a good scrubbing, with pots and pans flowing from the sink, and garbage pilled high above the rim. When she couldn't locate him in the living room, complete with a huge television and two comfortable leather couches, she sighed with dismay. He was obviously not there.  
  
Never having been in this situation before she was slightly at a loss as of what do. Should she wait until he returned, so that she could talk about the previous night? Should she leave? If she left should she leave her phone number incase he wanted to call her?   
  
She thought about staying and quickly ruled it out. If he had wanted to see her he would have stayed, left a note, or atleast woken her up to say "good-bye" before his untimely departure. She was trying to deny in her mind the one thing that she knew that she could never truly rule out, that this was no more than a "one night fling." At first she felt so used, and dirty, until the thought crossed her mind that she had used him too.  
  
She covered her mouth with her hand, as if to stop the thoughts but it was too late. She was no longer a quiet, reserved, bookworm. She now had a life, unfortunately, not one to her liking.  
  
Resolved upon leaving she wondered if she should simply go, or leave he number incase her cared to contact her. She decided better safe than sorry. Removing her wand she muttered, "Accio, parchment. Accio quill." The two items flew from The small desk in the bedroom, and levitated in mid air in front of her, waiting for her to take them.   
  
She hesitated a few seconds, wondering if this was a good idea, and finally getting the gall to take the parchment and place it on the table, and put the pen into her shaking hand. She managed to write a short note.  
  
Sirius,  
  
I am not entirely sure where the events of last night leave us. I was hoping you might clear that up. If you wish, call me at this number: 656-7236  
  
~Andromeda (finally released from her chains, and wondering if it was worth it)  
  
She read the note in her head a few times to make sure that it was what she wanted to say. Pleased with the way it turned out, or as pleased as she could be giving the circumstances, she placed it on the living room table, where he was sure to notice it. Standing up, she took one last look at her surroundings as if trying to make a mental image in her head, and with out another backward look she exited the apartment, hearing the lock click into place.  
*~*~  
When Sirius returned from his training that day he was utterly exhausted. "Alohomora." He told the door, and turning the handle he entered the room.   
  
"Home sweet home," he said in a fake, cheery voice. He crossed the room to the refrigerator and swung open the door, "Damn!" He exclaimed in an exasperated voice upon seeing the refrigerator was empty, "I forgot, again."   
  
He walked over to the Floo Book by the stove and located the number of the closest take out restaurant. Throwing some floo powder onto the stove it served as a sort of telephone, he made his order, and after checking to see that he had the money read he hung up the phone.  
  
Five seconds later there was a knock on the door. The deliveryman had obviously apparated. Opening the door to a nice young witch, which he probably would have flirted with, had he had the energy, he gave her the money and sat down at the table to eat.  
  
He sorted his way through the owl post. There were tons of bills, a few magazines, and a letter. He tore the letter open. He sighed. It was that witch, Delphinus, when would she get a hint? He had ignored her letters, sent back her owls, and even though it was against his normal procedure, had written a short letter in response telling her in no uncertain terms that it was over.  
  
Entering the living room he collapsed onto one of his favorite couches, and proceeded to lift his feet, to rest them on the table. When he looked down he noticed a piece of paper below his left foot. Removing his foot to pick it up, he raised it to his eyes. In a matter of seconds he had read the letter and desolved into chuckles, "Still got it," he told himself as he crumpled up the paper and threw it into the garbage, "Still got it"...  
*~*  
Two months later, in September Andromeda sat in a coffee shop sitting across from her best friend Hydra. They were chatting lightly about work, the latest fashions and the most recent news about Lord Voldemort. Although it was extremely bad taste to discuss the Dark Lord in public, they skipped over those formalities because they had known each other for so long, and there was simply nothing to be gained from denying the truth to your own best friend.  
  
Hydra looked up from her own coffee to notice that Andromeda's cup seemed just as full as it had been nearly twenty minutes ago when it had first been brought by the stunningly handsome wizard, which Hydra had pointed out his nice butt. Although she had thought it odd that her friend didn't comment or laugh at her remarks about the wizard, she had brushed it off thinking that maybe her joke wasn't very funny.  
  
Feeling as though the conversation had hit an uncomfortable lull, considering the fact that when those two got together they could simply chat up a storm to top any hurricane, Hydra proceeded to tell Andromeda about her day. "First," she began, "Mr. Normand told me that my article on The rising stupidity of the masses who allow Voldemort to thrive, while living in pretend oblivion, was too controversial, then that cute wizard that I had been telling you about decided to ask out Jannett, my secretary, and then I proceeded to take off all of my clothes and make a little extra holiday money," she added noting that Andromeda was not paying attention in the slightest, her eyes beginning to look glossed over, and her mouth open wide with a bit of saliva dangling from her lip.  
  
"Huh?" Andromeda questioned, seeming to come back to earth, and wiping her face with her hands while stammering her apologies towards a rather confused looking Hydra.  
  
"An, what's up with you?" Hydra questioned, "You've been acting very oddly today, and it's not just today, but recently, like last time I saw you. You can't fool me. I've known you since we both started at Hogwarts, and you were never any good at lying. Well except maybe that time that you told Lucius Malfoy that you had seen him and Narcissa out on the Quidditch field, that shut him up for days."  
  
"Hydra, I've been feeling so ill lately, I've thrown up nearly everyday this week, and I'm getting the worst headaches."   
  
"Well, An, there's only one thing I can think of."  
  
"Please, Hydra, don't say it." Andromeda pleaded with a look in her eyes that was so painful for Hydra to endure.  
  
"I have to say it, An, because if I don't, you might to something stupid, and you need to keep your head on straight, now tell me have you been with anyone as of late?"  
  
Andromeda was silent, it was as though the weight of the world was coming down on her, and with it her dreams, hopes, and plans were being ruined, ruined by the man, whom she had help such contempt, by the man who had never called her back.  
  
"Yes," she said in a voice that hardly sounded like her own, "One guy, Sirius Black."  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU, HE'S BEEN AROUND MORE TIMES THAN THE MERRY-GO-ROUND AT THE CARNIVAL!"  
  
"I was drunk, we met at a party, he never called me back, and I was being extremely stupid."  
  
"THAT, goes with out saying," Hydra said in such a wintry note that she never could have imagined those words being directed at her.  
  
The wall that had been closing off the emotions from the past two months suddenly came tumbling down. And with it came all the pain, the anger, and the bitter frustration. The tears could no longer be held at bay, and she felt as though she had no desire to hold them in anymore. Her head slumped down to rest on the table, resting in her arms, and she sobbed brokenly, sobbed for the "what ifs", and the "what thens."   
  
Hydra laid a comforting hand on her head and said in a soothing voice "Come on An, its not the end of the world. And for all we know maybe you do just have a stomach virus, the only way to know is to go to the doctor, have you gone yet?"  
  
"No," said Andromeda pushing back her hair, and using the table napkins to wipe her tears.  
  
"Well why not?"  
  
"Because until I know for sure, I can just pretend, I can just keep living my life the way it was supposed to be, before he came along, before it got so complicated."  
  
"And what will happen, if you are pregnant, you know that you'll start showing, and you'll have to tell him. You can't hide from this An, you need to see this through. You need to muster up all the courage that I know that you have, but I doesn't matter if I know it, you need to know it."  
  
"Well, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, you're right, but will you come with me, I can't do this all alone, not yet."  
  
"You aren't alone An, I can promise you that.  
*~*  
The time she spent in that room seemed like the longest minutes of her entire life. It was early October, and Andromeda had finally conjured up the determination to see a doctor. She was now sitting in the doctor's room, in one of those little blue nightgown things. Her feet touched the cold floor tiling and she recoiled, it was a chilling as the whole situation, and now she had to wait.  
  
Hydra was outside in the waiting for her, and her thoughts kept drifting back to Sirius, an unworthy person at the least. If the results were positive how could she tell him. She couldn't honestly even try to convince herself that he would be happy or anything even close to it. He would probably make up some excuse and vanish from London all together, not that it would be a bad thing.  
  
Her thoughts were temporarily disturbed when she heard the knock on the door. "Can I come in?" Came the voice of her doctor outside, Andromeda mused about what would happen if she said "no," but knew that this was not an option, and replied in a shaky voice  
  
"Come in."  
  
"I have the results." Came Dr. Grady's voice, a voice that said all to clearly how concerned she was, which was not in the least bit comforting.  
  
"Beautiful weather," Andromeda commented, wondering if she could do anything to delay her knowledge of the results, it seemed so unfair that the world should be so happy looking while she was filled with such despair.  
  
"Don't think that you can fool me, Andromeda," came the stern voice, but it was obviously just a joke, as the eyes of the doctor danced.   
  
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean," she replied in a mock confused voice. Had the situation not been so grave, she would have enjoyed this conversation, but it was too much for her to bear and in the end her need to know, got the better of her, "What does it say?" She asked, her face pale, and her eyes shinning behind a cloud of worry.  
  
"It's positive, you are pregnant."   
  
She no longer felt the floor beneath her feet, and the light slowly crept into the shadows before the dizzying feeling in her head took control and there was no more.  
*~*  
Her eyes fluttered open and she could feel herself in the plush armchair of her flat. The noises told her that someone was in the kitchen, but she was content to sit there with her eyes closed breathing deeply. The memories of earlier were as fresh as if they had only been a few minutes ago, and for all she knew, maybe they had been. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious.   
  
She wanted to just sit there until she had memorized every fiber of the chair, but she knew that her attempts were futile. None the less every part of her body ached, and her mind was echoing the thoughts that she couldn't shut up. What would people say about her, she was so disgraced.   
  
They would talk about her, at dinners, and on the super market check out lines, at Magicoware parties, over the phone, and when they went shopping. How did she know? Because she had done it all herself, in the past. Ironic, she thought, that these things would happen to her, she would have never suspected it, I mean, who would have?  
  
"Hey sleepy head," Hydra whispered I Andromeda's ear, "time to rise and shine."  
  
Andromeda opened her eyes and found herself face to face with Hydra, who was tucking a blanket all around her. "You gave us all quite a fright."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, was my fainting inconvenient? How careless of me!"   
  
"Same old Andromeda I see."  
  
"Oh yes, exactly the same, in everyway."  
  
"Come on, you knew what I meant. So are you gonna tell him?"  
  
"I will, when the time is right."  
  
"And when will that be?" Questioned Hydra a smile dancing on the corners of her mouth.  
  
"How bout never?" Asked Andromeda turning her head into the chair, to hide her flowing tears.  
*~*  
NOVEMBER 1 1982  
  
Looking at the Newspaper Andromeda lost all appetite for her cresant, which was rather unusual, considering the way she was eating nowadays.  
  
The headline in big bold letters read :  
  
SIRIUS BLACK SENT TO AZKABAN FOR THE MURDER OF PETER PETTIGREW AND 12 MUGGLES  
  
Her head was spinning, and she felt as thought the world must be playing tricks on her. She read it again, and then once more, but it was obvious upon her fourth read that it must be real. How could she tell him now? She would never even have a chance to see him again. She didn't even know if she could mail him a letter. She doubted very much that any letter sent to him would actually get to him because of the seriousness of the crime, not to mention the fact that Dementors are blind. He deserves to know, her mind echoed you'll regret it if you don't tell him. Regret it? Regret it! Who gives a damn about that no good, scum! At that point even if she had, which she didn't, believed that he was innocent, she would have said, "Lock him up with man eating hippogriffs " anyway, because of the pain he had caused her.  
  
She didn't need to read anymore, throwing the paper down on the table she ran into her bedroom, a few simple spells packed her entire belongings into one case. She worked quickly, afraid of losing her motivation. She called the airport and reserved a one way ticket to New York. She jotted a note to Hydra posting it on her door and another note to the super intendant leaving her payment until the lease ran out. Her note to Hydra   
read:  
  
Hydra  
I don't know where I'm going, but I wont be back. I am getting a ticket to New York. I need to start again. Sirius Black is in Azkaban and I simply can not put this child through the pain of being shunned for the wrong choices that I made. You have been the best friend I ever could have asked for, I will never forget you. But I must do this, there is nothing you can do to stop me. Please come see me sometime when I get to wherever it is that I'm headed.  
Yours Always  
~Andromeda (the lady chained by what could have been, and forever by what wasn't)  
*~*  
SIXTEEN YEARS LATER  
If anyone could have told Andromeda on that fateful day 16 years ago, that today she would be living with her daughter, in a quaint little cottage in North Eastern New Jersey, she would have told you that you were crazy. And what's more, she would have given you a whole list of lawyers who could help you out.  
  
Yet none the less, there she was working for the United States Magic Regulation Department, and her daughter Gemini was a straight A student at the American Academy for Witches and Wizards.   
  
It was on a warm day in late July, just after Gemini's recent birthday when she heard the knock on the window. Opening the glass to allow a beautiful brown barn owl with a letter attached to its leg, they received the worst news ever.  
  
Andromeda, now 36 years old, opened the letter to reveal its contents, in a hurried scrawl she could make out the words:  
  
Andromeda,  
It has been so long since I have last heard from you or Gemini for that matter. The doctors say that my Liver Cancer is spreading, and no one knows when I will go. It could be tomorrow, it could be in two years. This is why I am writing to you. You have lived in the United States ever since Gemini was born, and I am asking a huge favor of you. Please move back here and spend the last time in my life with me, so that I might meet the Granddaughter that I have heard so much about. She could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while she was here, and you and I could do some catching up. Please respond soon.  
Love Your Mother,  
Cassiopeia  
  
"Gemini darling," Andromeda began, noting the concerned look in her daughter's face, "Do you want to move back?"  
  
"MOM! I live here! I belong here! NOT THERE! With their...their...their flats, and lifts, and trousers! Can't grandma move here! I've never even met her! Why do I have to sacrifice everything, my friends, my school, my memories, everything that feels so natural for someone I regard as a stranger?"   
  
Andromeda was about to strongly unbraid her child for talking so poorly of her own Grandmother, and had it not been for the tears which she could see forming in Gemini's eyes, she just might have.  
  
"Gemini," she began in a sweet tone, which was met by a look of loathing from her daughter, "do you remember last three years ago when you wanted that Firebolt?" Gemini nodded her acknowledgement. "Do you remember what you said? You said you would never ask for anything else. But then a year later you just had to have that complete collection of signed Chocolate Frog Cards. That was the last thing too. And yet let's not forget when it became essential to have those Teeny Witch Shoes that glowed and left a trail of stardust wherever you walked. What I'm trying to say is that what applies one minute may not apply the next. I always knew that those things wouldn't be the last things you ever wanted, but I went along because the look on your face was all I needed to know that I was doing the right thing. Now I'm asking you for something, and I can't promise it will be the last thing, and I cant promise it won't be hard, because it will, but can't you do it, knowing how happy it would make me?" She turned to her daughter inquiringly to see whether or not this request would be allowed.  
  
"Argh!" replied Gemini, "you had to use the guilt factor, fine I'll do it, but not just for you, but because I intend to discover who my real father is with or without you. Unless of course you would like to save me the trouble, and simply tell me his name," Gemini prompted.  
  
"Gemini, his name is just as unimportant as he is, don't spend anther minute pondering about him, because it'll be one more minute than he deserves."  
  
"Fine! You aren't the only one who would know about this, maybe it is a good thing that we're going to see Grandma, maybe she'll have a heart." Her face looked annoyed, which was slightly odd considering they had this conversation atleast once every two weeks, and the result was always the same, so she had no idea why today should be different.  
  
Gemini walked up the stairs to her room. Upon entering her room her heart filled with happiness at the familiar things and the pictures that covered the walls. She slowly picked up each item, as if she had never seen it before, and tossed it inside of her trunk.  
  
Why, she wondered, why won't mom tell me who my dad is. Don't I have right to know? Shouldn't it be my decision, if I want him in my life? That's it, in London my one job is to find my father, and I won't rest until I do. Mom always gets this far away look when she thinks of him. She thinks I don't notice but my goodness it's clear as day.   
*~*  
In London Three weeks later, in mid August Gemini and her mother were walking down the streets of Diagon Alley. In and out of shops they walked looking for new textbooks for the next year.   
  
She would be beginning school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although she was technically supposed to be in 6th year because of her age, she had been put in 7th grade to go along with her extensive knowledge from her former school, where they started at an earlier age.   
  
She was browsing the book shelves for a copy of Your Inner Eye, and What's truly 'Inside' it, a guide to Divination when she saw her mom halfway across the store chatting with some man. Yet she had no idea what they were saying. Her mother looked so happy that she almost seemed as though her face was having a flashlight shown on it. Gemini desperately wanted to know what they were saying, yet she knew better than to ask.  
  
"Well you see, its all in the wrist, simply twist and pull. See?" And the man stuck his hand into his cap and pulled out a bunny.  
  
Andromeda laughed at his mockery of muggle magicians and replied "How do I know you don't have something 'up your sleeve'?"  
  
"Well would it convince you, if I were to take off my shirt?" The man asked a devilish grin on his face.  
  
When she finally composed herself Andromeda said, "I'm sorry but my daughter is waiting, and we don't have much time I'm going to have to leave. Nice meeting you."  
  
"We should get together sometime for lunch." He suggested.  
  
"That would be nice, we could meet here on September the 2nd after school starts."  
  
"I'll be counting the minutes." He said in a joking voice.  
  
"Don't try too hard, you don't look nearly as sexy when you're confused." And she smiled sweetly.  
  
Turning away she went towards Gemini, who was looking at her knowingly. Normally she would have taken the time to throw some sort of sarcastic comment Gemini's way, but for some odd reason she couldn't wipe the huge grin off her face. Andromeda knew that Gemini must have put two and two together, but she was so overjoyed at the prospect of a date, something that she hadn't had in way too long that she didn't care.  
  
They paid for the books and moved on to their next stop, for potions materials, when suddenly it occurred to Andromeda that she hadn't even asked this man what his name was. She had out of the blue gone up to a man, chatted him up, and agreed to go on a date him without even waiting to realize that she had no idea who he was. For all she knew he was an escaped Azkaban freak.  
*~*  
Sirius was humming to himself as he walked down Diagon alley. What a great month, first he had been cleared of all the charges against him when Petter Pettigrew was found dead, after having betrayed Voldemort. The silver hand attached to his arm had been enough on its own to convince everyone that he had obviously not died on the day when his finger was cut off.  
  
After, he had been publicly apologized to, his adoption of Harry had finally been legalized, which meant that Harry had been able to move in with him. And now he was going to be meeting with a charming woman sometime soon to have lunch. The funniest thing was that it had seemed as though he knew her from somewhere, as though this wasn't the first time they had met. But he quickly shook the feeling saying that it had been 16 years ago that he was originally sent to Azkaban, there was no way he could have met her before then. Besides he would have recognized her name. Wait, a minute, what was her name? He racked his brain to try to remember if and when she had told him, and finally reached the realization that she hadn't told him what it was.   
  
He was going to meet someone who he had never met before. Some one who could be some weird freak. And who he didn't know the first thing about. And the worst part was that he kept feeling that he did know her, but where from?  
  
*~*  
  
  
Okay, that was part one, what do you think? I apologize for any typos, after a while you get so used to reading your fic, over and over and over that you stop picking up on the typos. So now that you've read it, go on! AND REVIEW :) :) :)  
  
If you review I will write another part in which we meet Cassiopeia, Gemini explores the house and thinks about who her father is, Andromeda and Sirius ponder if they should really go on the date, maybe they do maybe they don't! you'll have to review if you want to find out!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Inquiring Minds

Extremely Long, Yet Important AN: Thanks sooooooooo- much to everyone who reviewed the first part! I was away for the weekend (which is why I was unable to post this before today) and when I got back I couldn't believe that I had gotten so many reviews! :) So tonight I'm sitting down to try and put all the pieces together mentally. I have a pretty good idea where this is headed and I thank you all for reviewing, because if you hadn't, I doubt that I would have had the patience to continue. I certainly hope my story can separate and stand out from all the cliches. And would you believe me if I said I'm not totally sure about if Sirius and Andromeda will end up together, because as you'll see in this part, Andromeda may have some new prospects on the horizon. Sirius certainly won't be winning any hearts until he cleans himself up a bit. One more thing, I realize that a few times in this bit Andromeda seems rather like a damsel in distress, while at other times she seems witty, and it can become confusing. The reason is that she is stronger on the outside than she feels on the inside, and she's very good at hiding her feelings. She is a lot stronger than feels, but she has to find it within herself, her self-esteem will need to grow as the story does. And like last time, I admit that the beginning is slower, this is because I need to describe the castel so that you know what its like, this will be important later, however it QUICKLY gets faster. And last but NOT least, please review, this is the same as last time, no reviews, no part 3, but if you review you will get part three! :)  
  
Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to JKR excluding Gemini, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and Hydra.   
  
Part Two: Inquiring Minds   
  
  
The wind blew through the Sagitta Estate, all one hundred and twenty-six acres of it. It was a cold day, and certainly not one for being outside. The rain cascaded down the stained glass windows of the mansion, and the slow pitter-patter was extremely calm.   
  
There was nothing to do but stay inside. However, this didn't phase Gemini in the least, she found this house more amazing than anything she had ever seen. She could walk for hours through the halls, and get so lost that she would have to ask one of the moving gargoyle statues for directions. They were never very helpful though, seeing as how they liked to be left alone. Gemini seriously doubted that they were meant for asking directions, but hey, she was an American tourist, what else was she to do?   
  
The halls were adorned with huge mirrors where you could actually get lost in your own reflection, and rugs that seemed to have seen better days, all worn and dirty, yet somehow still elegant. Yes, the theme of the house was definitely elegance, having just the right thing in just the right place, so that nothing seemed too grand or ostentatious. Yet, its simplicity made it all the more of a challenge to memorize. Because nothing stood out in your mind you were never quite sure if this was the same hall you had just been in, or if you were wandering into the Forbidden Eastern Wing.   
  
She had no idea why it was forbidden, but one of the first things her grandmother had told her, upon arrival was that, under no circumstances was she allowed to enter East Wing, or she would upset the fates. Gemini had laughed, rather loudly, assuming that it was a joke, however her when her grandmother had not smiled back, her laughter had quickly abated. The fact that she had not been given a reason for it being forbidden made her think that perhaps it was totally empty, and simply said to create mystery.  
  
In her spare time Gemini ruminated about what the contents of the Eastern Wing could be. After a while the idea had come to her that maybe it contained information about her father, which made her all the more determined to get in. She had thought about a summoning charm, to get whatever it was that was locked inside, but realizing that it could be thousands of boxes of stuff she had decided against it. Although her room was large it would certainly not go unnoticed if she filled it with a few thousand boxes.   
  
Her next thought was to simply try sending a camera into the room, but then she realized that pictures would do her no good at all, because she still wouldn't be able to use it, whatever the hell it was.  
  
She had then gotten so desperate that she had consulted one of those stupid muggle Oujia boards. Her result: some sirius stuff, DAMNED THING COUNLDNT EVEN SPELL SERIOUS CORRECTLY! So after much venting, a wide vocabulary of words that her Grandmother Cassiopeia would have cringed had she heard, and rather impromptu fire she had continued to think.  
  
She was still pondering this problem, and she only had one week before school started.  
  
Turning the corner she smacked straight into someone and screamed.  
  
"My dear," said her grandmother with a smile, putting a hand over her ear, obviously hurt by the scream, " old I may be, but deaf, I am not."  
  
"I'm so sorry!" Apologized Gemini, blushing bright red, her green eyes wide with shock.  
  
Cassiopeia simply gave her a sympathetic smile and proceeded to ask, "May I join you?"  
  
"Well actually, I was..." and noting the sad expression on her Grandmothers face she hurried on, "just about to ask you if you would like to come along," and she smiled sweetly.  
  
They walked in silence for a few minutes and then Gemini got up the courage to ask her grandmother the one thing that had been on her mind all day. She fought down the food from earlier that morning, which she could feel rising, in her nervous state, "Grandma," she began and she paused, waiting, almost hoping that Cassiopeia could read minds so that she wouldn't have to continue with this difficult topic. When it became apparent that to Gemini's misfortune her Grandmother was not a psychic she continued, "Do you know who my father is?"  
  
Cassiopeia shifted uncomfortably.  
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~*  
Up in her room Andromeda was staring out the window. It had been quite a few minutes since she had actually, really seen anything. At the moment she simply sat there, eyes on the horizon. The pain was a cut that just wouldn't heal, and everytime she thought of it, it felt as though someone was running over it with a knife.  
  
She knew that Gemini was a resourceful girl and it wouldn't take her much longer to find her father. Andromeda wanted, just as all parents do, to shield her child from the pain of the world, and it pulled at her heart when she was forced to admit that she couldn't.   
  
Why did Gemini care about who he was? Who was the one who worked her ass off to send her daughter to the best American School for witchcraft? Who was the person who stayed with Gemini when she was sick and needed love and attention? Who spent every minute of every waking day worrying about Gemini, and if she was okay? SHE WAS! So why did Gemini care so much about him?  
  
She allowed her thoughts to drift back to the plans for her date next week. She had no idea if it was wise to go. She thought that it wasn't smart to go, meet someone that she had no idea about. However, if he was some sort of crazy mass murderer she couldn't help but think that it would be even stupider to stand him up so that he would have a reason to make earrings out of her eyes.  
  
It had been so long since she had any dates. Maybe she was just trying to think of a reason to not go. Maybe this was the man she was meant to be with? She couldn't pass up the chance. She had too many things in her life that she regretted, she would not, could not add this to the pile. He had seemed so nice at Diagon Alley, it had been like chatting with an old friend, and extremely handsome old friend...  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~*  
In his cottage Sirius was running around the house trying to calm himself down. The house felt much too large without Harry. However, Harry was gone for the remainder of Summer Vacation, staying with the Weasley family.   
  
His nerves were running a muck, and he was very aggravated with himself for letting them control him. He felt as jittery as a young boy did on his first date, which was slightly ironic considering that Sirius had never been nervous about dating, it had become a hobby of sorts. Something for amusement, something to keep him occupied, but not something to worry about. Yet, he couldn't help it. He hadn't had a date in sixteen years, let alone one with someone he liked so much.  
  
The house was just the right size for two people. It was one story, with a charming kitchen, a quaint living room, an elegant dinning room, a spacious office, two medium-sized bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Right now he was in his office. He had no real idea why he had turned this area into an office; he usually just did his work in the kitchen, over a cup of coffee. Today was probably the first time he had used it since they had moved in, a month ago.  
  
Yet, you could hardly say that he was using it in its proper way. Hermione would have laughed if she had seen him there, a deck of tarot cards before him. He was desperate. He wanted so badly to see this woman again, yet he couldn't shake the feeling from the pit of his stomach, the feeling that he shouldn't go, the odd feeling that he had met her before, yet he racked his brains, and well, he couldn't find anyone who stood out...  
*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
Gemini stood there her eyes full of hope. She couldn't help but think that this moment might bring about the end of her suffering. She could recall a time in her life where she had thought that if she simply turned the corner she would find him standing there; a smile on his face, and an extremely understandable reason for leaving her all alone. Not that he she was ever actually all-alone, she did have Andromeda, and while Andromeda was a superb mother, she always seemed held back, as though she had experienced too much, at too young an age to ever be able to relax and let down her guard.  
  
Cassiopeia looked back at Gemini, with a feeling of horrible sadness. She debated slowly in her head if she should tell Gemini everything she knew but quickly made up her mind, "Gemini, I have the feeling that if your mother didn't tell you she certainly wouldn't want me to, if I even could. You see my dear, I am as in the dark as you are," she lied with a straight face, "yet perhaps we can light a match."  
  
"How?" Asked Gemini, fighting to control the shake in her voice.  
  
"Your mother used to be best friends with a woman named Hydra, they told each other everything, perhaps she would take heart to your situation, perhaps not."  
  
It was Gemini's turn to remain silent. As they walked down another hall, decorated with wizard portraits of all of her ancestors, who all smiled and waved from their frames, she contemplated the risk involved in roping in another person. She realized that there was very little, if nothing that she could lose from this, considering the fact that she already knew nothing.   
  
She finally nodded her acceptance of this idea and approached her last question, hoping to be lucky enough to learn her second helpful piece of information. "Grandma," she began slowly, taking all of her ability to sound sweet and sincere, "what do you keep in the East Wing?" Gemini crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping against hope that Cassiopeia might enlighten her.  
  
"Ah my dear, full of questions today, aren't we?" Cassiopeia paused to smile, "Yet, this is a matter, which doesn't concern you, and therefore I trust," she stressed this word, "that you will simply go by what I have told you," she paused to glance at a clock on the wall of the corridor. "Its nearly dinner time, I'll give you an hour to freshen up and relax, and dinner will be at seven."  
  
Gemini watched with a slightly downcast feeling as her Grandmother, her greatest hope, walked down the corridor. She noticed before leaving, that Cassiopeia walked very quickly, as if she had somewhere to go, and something extremely important to do.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*  
Some how she managed to find the way to her room, before the hour was over. Checking her watch she noted the fact that she still had forty minutes left. Plopping down upon her over stuffed mattress, Gemini reached under her pillow to find her good luck charm, a piece of her dad's old apartment, which her mom had sketched years ago, from memory.   
  
Andromeda had insisted that it was simply a picture of her old flat, yet Gemini knew otherwise. Andromeda had been so enraged by the suggestion that it was of Gemini's father's house that she had ripped it up, and thrown it away. What Andromeda didn't know was that later Gemini had come along, taken the pieces and saved them. And what's more, she certainly had no idea that a few hours later Gemini had seen her, from a side room, as Andromeda searched through the garbage for nearly an hour, and finally collapsed into tears.  
  
Removing her wand, she tapped the parchment, which was slightly faded. Gemini had on several occasions considered using an anti-aging spell, to keep it in good shape, but resisted so that she could save it, looking just the way it naturally was. Upon being tapped in just the right spot, the parchment expanded into a journal, which Gemini had sealed inside of it. She flipped to a new page and began to jot down information about Hydra.  
  
This had been where for the last three years she had written down all the information about her father. The pages were mostly blank though, she had never been very successful in her attempts to ascertain information. Her last entry dated over three months ago, and was related to a book, Creepy Coincidences when Constellations Connect, that she had seen her mother read dozens of times over the years. This was her first legitimate clue, yet she was filled with guilt. Guilt at resorting to such low levels to find out the one thing her mother wanted to hide from her so desperately.  
  
"Dammit!" She thought, "Even when you're not here you always use the guilt factor!"  
  
She took this opportunity to glance a look at the clock. "Crap!" She screamed out loud, realizing that she only had five minutes to get downstairs to be on time for dinner.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
Downstairs Cassiopeia and Andromeda were engaged in a rather I-dunno-what-to-say-so-I'll-just-be-annoying conversation. The light of the candlesticks was casting a rather dim and gloomy feeling around the room. There was an uneasy tension as they both waited for Gemini, and they didn't even bother to hide their desperate looks at the clock.  
  
"Where is that girl?" Andromeda wondered, "I can't take much more of this," and she tried to stifle a sigh.  
  
"Like I was saying," Cassiopeia continued, "you could achieve so much more if you simply tried a little harder."  
  
"Well in that case," began Andromeda in a tone of total loathing, "you must be right. Seeing as how you've never worked a day in your life, and you were married two months after you graduated Hogwarts, and you were wonderful at raising a horrible daughter. I mean why didn't I ask you for advice before? What was I thinking?" And she paused to watch the stream of emotions flash across her mother's face.  
  
"Well with an attitude like that it's no wonder," Cassiopeia stated, in an even voice, leaving no doubt that she could play this game too.  
  
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. The only sounds in the room seemed to come from the clock, and then a few minutes later the sound of footsteps became audible as Gemini approached the room.  
  
She slowly opened the door, seeming almost afraid of being hurt for being fifteen minutes late. Silently sliding into her chair she cleared her throat. Even though she had just arrived, the looks on the faces of the two other occupants clearly showed that they were at some sort of conversational roadblock.   
  
"I'm so sorry for my tardiness," Gemini began, continuing to explain the plights of her long journey. Which involved falling through two trap doors, somehow ending up in her room again three times, and being chased by a gargoyle who was not in a very happy mood, after his girlfriend had left him for the demon in the East Wing. Gemini did not however relate the part of the story in which she had asked how his girlfriend had gotten into the East Wing, and the gargoyle had proceeded chase her for a good five minutes with one of the more expensive mirrors. "Ah well," she thought, "what's seven more years bad luck when added to a life sentence?"  
  
Cassiopeia took this start in the conversation to wave her hands around signaling that she wanted their attention. Gemini had to fight with herself not to laugh, at how similar her grandmother looked to a chimpanzee.  
  
After she was fairly satisfied that was in full control of the situation Cassiopeia continued by starting, "Andromeda, one of my old friends, has a daughter, who knows a wizard, who is approximately your age, and I arranged for the two of you to meet together on September the 2nd-"  
  
Andromeda didn't even wait for Cassiopeia to finish before she intervened, "What in the golly-gee-think-I'm-gonna-kill-you-run-for-the-hills-you-get-a-five-second-headstart-beginning-now-hell where you thinking?" Andromeda said all of this very quickly, as her eyes lit on fire just like her personality.  
  
"And anyway, you forgot to have a dentist in there, there always has to be a dentist," Gemini said trying to lighten the conversation as she slightly pushed back her chair, ready to leave if candlesticks started flying. She almost felt a pang of sympathy for her mother, being treated like a two-year-old.  
  
"Well, Andromeda," Cassiopeia began in a pacifying tone, "you haven't had a date in sixteen years, and I was simply trying to help. Anyway, I hear he's quite a charmer, very popular with the ladies."  
  
"If you wanna help why don't you just go shove a broomstick up your-"  
  
"I will not be spoken to like that."  
  
"Yea, add that to your list of things that disappoint you about me, if there's any room left," and having said that Andromeda turned on her heel and ran from the room.  
  
Up in her room Gemini was sitting in the wicker chair infront of an antique desk from before the first goblin rebellion. She was chewing the end of her pen, a rather disgusting habit she had picked up at school, yet she was unable to stop.  
  
Reading her letter once more she made sure that it all fit together.   
  
Dear Hydra,  
This is Gemini, Andromeda's daughter. I have heard a great deal about you and I was hoping that you could possibly help me with a situation that I have. I would like to know my father's name, I want to know who he is, I want to be a part of his life. My mother thinks that she holds all the power of the situation, but I am determined. I must know who he is. This has haunted me for years, and I will never be at peace until I have a chance. You are my last option, please give me some aid.  
~Gemini   
  
Short, and sweet, and to the point she thought as she crossed the room to her owl's cage. Handing the beautiful gray owl her letter she opened the window and with a feeling of hope, a feeling of possibility, she watched the owl fly away until she was a speck in the sky.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
September 1st came faster than Gemini could have even anticipated, and before she knew it she was tucked into a small Limousine, watching England fly by, as she thought about the letter that she had sent to Hydra a week ago. She had had no reply as of yet.   
  
Andromeda sat across from her, Andromeda's eyes wide with shock that this day had come so fast. She looked paler than normal, and Gemini couldn't understand why.   
  
As the Limousine pulled into the entrance of King's cross they unloaded the bags with the aid of the handsome driver. Gemini and Andromeda made their good-byes and as the last whistle hooted Andromeda hung out the window of her compartment to wave to her tear-strewn mother as the train pulled away, leading her to new adventures, friends, and experiences.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
That night Andromeda couldn't sleep, she kept thinking of that man from Diagon Alley, and the fact that she would be seeing him some time in the next few hours. She tossed and turned and when she finally fell asleep her dreams were anything but sweet.  
  
She awoke an hour after she had fallen asleep to find herself on the floor, amidst a bunch of tangled sheets and pillows. Picking herself up, and mentally shunning herself for being so stupid as to fall off a bed, she walked down the stairs to the kitchen.  
  
Upon arrival she made herself a cup of herbal tea, the kind that she had made ever since she was young, and she sat down to think at the counter. It seemed like only yesterday when she was a little girl with the whole world ahead of her, and now here she was, in the same old kitchen over thirty years later and it seemed like the whole world was behind her. She certainly didn't miss the irony.  
  
Picking up the cup and returning it to the sink she made the journey to her room, and upon arrival immediately fell asleep, before she even made it to the bed.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
The next morning went by very quickly. Andromeda's alarm was set for 8 am because they were meeting at twelve-noon. Peeling herself off the floor she didn't even bother to mentally reprimand herself this time, as she headed for the bathroom.  
  
Lifting her eyes to the sink she noted with much anger that she had huge bags under her eyes from her semi-sleepless night, and her back was aching from an unexpected slumber on the floor. She crossed the room and turned on the taps in the shower, sticking her hand in to test the water.  
  
Inside the shower she could feel the water cascading down her body, and she had to fight to stay awake in the relaxing scene. Only the thoughts of her approaching meeting could keep her going, and she could feel the knots in her stomach as if someone was twisting it into a balloon animal. Her hair washed, and her resolution to go on the date done, she stepped from the shower. She only had three hours to eat breakfast, and get ready, and knowing her, she would spend atleast one more half an hour debating if she should really go before she would finally apparate.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*  
Sirius smacked the buzzing alarm, chucking it across the room, and smiling satisfactorily as he heard the noise that could only be taken for what it was, the destruction of yet another clock. It was nine-o clock, why was his alarm set for so early? "Hmmm, I must have made a mistake and set it by accident he thought," turning over on his side, closing his eyes, and falling instantly asleep.  
  
An hour-and-a-half later Sirius shot up in bed. It was as though his sleeping mind had been pondering the reason for setting an alarm, and finally found the answer. Jumping out of bed he cursed himself out loud for nearly forgetting something he had been looking forward to for weeks.  
  
He pulled on jeans and a blue shirt as he walked down the hall towards the kitchen. For about a half an hour he sat there, his food untouched the same thoughts in his head, doubt, worry, and annoyance with himself for feeling these things. And the ironic thing was that he might not have felt this way if he had realized that at this moment Andromeda was feeling the same things.  
  
When the clock showed that it was five minutes to twelve he stood up, smoothing his shirt, and running a hand over his mouth to make sure that there was no food on it, then closing his eyes he said, Diagon Alley and the tiny kitchen faded away. It was slowly replaced with the familiar settings of Diagon Alley, and he stood there looking around for a few minutes as he made the last debate in his head.  
  
The shops looked so inviting, he saw some potion materials that he needed, and a new broom that he was dying to have priced. Maybe he should just forget about the date and go into that Quidditch Shop? NO! He had waited too long to have another chance to meet this interesting woman, if he didn't like her he would never have to see her again, so what harm was there in going?  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
Andromeda was waiting before the bookstore where she had first met that man a few weeks ago. She checked her watch and then held it to her ear to make sure it was still working. He only had one minute to get there before he was late. Was he going to stand her up?   
  
She was preparing to leave when she saw the familiar face coming into focus. She was now extremely nervous. She could still apparate away, she didn't have to stay, there was still time to leave.   
  
But all thoughts of leaving were quickly wiped from her mind when he flashed her a smile that made her doubt the very ground she was standing on. She wanted to say, "hello" she wanted to smile back, but all she could manage was what must have come out looking like a very dazed look.   
  
He offered her a hand, and thank goodness her arms were working even if her mouth wasn't, for she graciously took it and placed her own palm in it. They walked down the hall for a few seconds before he looked at her and said, "So where would you like to eat?"  
  
This time words did not fail her. She looked at him for a minute while thinking and then said, "Anywhere will be fine."  
  
"How very helpful," he said sarcastically with a smile.  
  
"What can I say, I try," and she looked back at him with a slight grin.  
  
"So I suppose that Chinese food will be fine?"  
  
"I suppose so," and she stopped to think, she couldn't be witty and charming until she knew the thing that was bothering her so much. But before she even had a chance to ask him, he had already done it.  
  
"Last time we met you never told me your name, and it was bothering me quite a bit."  
  
"I was just about to say that!" Andromeda exclaimed. "My name is Andromeda, and it has been bugging the hell out of me not knowing what your name is."  
  
"Well that's funny," He said looking highly amused.  
  
" What is?" She asked, a puzzled look spreading over her features.  
  
"The fact that you're Andromeda," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"Why?" She questioned; she didn't like the look on his face.  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
AN: Ok, I know, I left you with a BIG cliffhanger. What does Sirius say? How does Andromeda react? Who is Andromeda's blind date for that evening with? One hint, it's not Sirius. Does Gemini get a reply from Hydra? Will we ever learn the contents of the East Wing? For answers to those questions and more you will have to review, to let me know that people are enjoying this series, so that I have a reason to write it. :) :) :) Oh and when you review feel free to guess the name of Andromeda's date for that evening, we'll see if anyone can figure it out! :)   
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Mouth Before Mind

AN: :) Um, a couple of people have said that they have been getting confused, so let me offer this help. I hope to be soon getting a beta reader, who will help me make sure that nothing is too confusing in future, parts. However, in the meanwhile, I encourage anyone who is confused to write to me. My email address is Alissa_Black@yahoo.com and I realize that some things do move rather quickly, so I would be more than delighted to explain anything that is not clear. And even if you don't have questions and simply want to talk, email me, because it inspires me to write faster. This part is dedicated to Tabby, and Bobbi the people who have allowed me to bounce ideas off them so many times that I'm surprised they aren't black and blue! And it is also dedicated to Static, whose review, and the prospect of Beta-reading Voices, brought me back to reality long enough to make me decide to post this part, thanks! :) Sorry this part took me so long, first I had some really bad writer's block, and then, last night I was finally ready to post it and i went to upload it and ff.net said my browser wasn't wroking! So i asked my sister if I could use her computer to upload it, and my sister chose last night, of all nights, to be in a really bad mood, and say no! BTW I have decided that if I don't receive a few more reviews for this part, the series will be sadly discontinued. Well, actually, I will continue to write it, however I will not post it here because I spend a great deal of time writing each part, and it's not worth the uploading time, and frustration, if no one is going to review. However on a much happier note part three is here and it's my favorite part yet! :)  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are property of J.K.R. with the exception of Cassiopeia, Hydra, Gemini, and of course, Andromeda.  
  
  
Chapter Three - Mouth Before Mind  
  
Sirius was standing in front of Andromeda, whose eyes had grown wide and confused. He surveyed her face, which was white with worry, down to her hands, which hung limply by her sides, shaking, despite her effort. He could remember her so well from all those years ago, the party, the bar, and then the letter. He didn't know what she would say if he told her the truth: that he was the man who had left her 16 years ago, and never called her back. He wondered what she would do if he simply apparated away and never spoke to her again, yet somehow he was drawn to her. He, for the first time ever, felt ashamed of his past, and he couldn't help but want a second chance, to try to right his wrong, and see what might have been.  
  
"What," prompted Andromeda, "was so funny? And what is your name!"   
  
"Oh sorry, simply thinking of an old joke. And my name," he began, before he could stop himself, "is Severus Snape."   
  
He involuntarily cringed. Why had he done that? Why had he told her that lie? Why had Severus Snape been the first name to pop into his head? He would have rather told her that his name was Voldemort, himself, than tell her that he was Severus Snape! He would he rather told her that he was Sirius Black, the jerk from the party, and then stood there as she slapped him across the face. Yet in another way he was rather relieved, now that he had told her that he was Severus he could at least take the time to decide if she was worth seeing, and if she were, he would simply explain. He didn't even bother to realize how hard it would be to explain.  
  
Andromeda felt almost a little disappointed, as though she had hoped he would say something else. She had felt for all these weeks that she had known him, and she was more than a little upset at discovering that he wasn't the old acquaintance that she had thought he would be. Then again, who could she have possibly hoped that he would be? She hadn't gone on a date in 16 years, who was she expecting? Sirius Black? HA! She certainly was in no hurry to see him!  
  
She turned her attention back to her handsome escort and allowed him to guide her towards the Chinese restaurant in which they would be dinning. It was a small, little, place, and it was hardly filled at all. They were seated promptly and as they walked through the place she couldn't help but feel happy to be here with this man.  
  
"So, Severus," she began making eye contact with Sirius, who hoped that she hadn't noticed his flinch when she had called him Severus, "What have you been doing lately?"  
  
"Well, there are several answers that might fit that question," and he paused to enjoy her face turn several shades of red and purple, "Lately I've been taking some time off, had a rather exhausting past few years." Well, he thought this wasn't a lie, he was just evading the truth, after all his last years on the run certainly hadn't been restful. "And yourself?"   
  
"I'm actually not sure how long I'll be here, I live in America, with my daughter, and we only just came up here to visit my mother, who's dying."  
  
"Hmmm," he began smiling, "Boy you don't settle for just a little angst, you go for the whole nine yards."  
  
"Yes," she started, "I can't help but want to be the best." And she gave him a sardonic grin.   
  
"Well, you can expect your trophy in five to ten business days."  
  
"Oh thank you, thank you, let's see I would like to thank the makers of Scruggles Chocolate, the fine people at The Which Witch Magazine, and of course my lovely daughter, " and she paused to do a fake wave, to imaginary applause.   
  
"How old is this daughter of yours?" He asked, wondering what the answer would be.  
  
"Sixteen," she promptly answered.  
  
He simply nodded his understanding as he did the math, and thought, well it certainly didn't take her long to find someone else. But then again what right did he have in thinking about it anyway? He had lost all claims to her when he left her that morning over sixteen years ago, and he certainly didn't want them back anyway, did he? He mentally sighed; she's got quite some baggage, a sixteen-year-old daughter! Is this really worth it?  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Gemini was not having as great of luck in her adventures. Hogwarts was so huge and mysterious that she was becoming horribly homesick. She was seated in an armchair in the Gryffindor common room, surrounded by her new housemates, yet she felt alone. The crackling fire did little to warm her spirits, and all she could think of were her friends, back in America, who probably weren't thinking of her.  
  
Her first day had been rather dispiriting. Potions, with Snape had been her first class of the day, and after being thoroughly embarrassed by not knowing the necessary ingredients for a simple sleeping potion off the top of her head, she had not been in the mood for much else.  
  
Across the room she could see some of her fellow 7th years, engaged in conversation. She wanted to go and introduce herself, but she was feeling rather anti-social at the moment. She was turning her attention to the divination assignment that she had received, when she was momentarily disrupted by one of the boys she had seen earlier.   
  
"Um, excuse me," he started, "but I think this came for you," and he held out the letter, which could only be a response from Hydra.   
  
She smiled her first true smile of the day and muttering an extremely excited, "THANK YOU!" She began to rip the parchment open. She suddenly realized that he was still standing there, staring at her as if he expected something, so she glanced up at him a little uncertainly.  
  
"My name's Harry Potter, I saw you being sorted earlier, aren't you a little young for your 7th year?"   
  
"Oh," she said, "My name is Gemini. Yea, I am a little young, but back in America they start a little earlier, though you wouldn't be able to tell it from my performance in Potions," and she looked rather sad, as though the thought still pained her.   
  
Harry took this opportunity to smile at Gemini. "It was your first day, and it certainly isn't as though Snape is the nicest, least intimidating man in the world."  
  
"Well he definitely wasn't handing out treacle fudge." And she grinned happily at Harry. "Aren't your friends waiting for you?" Gemini questioned waving a hand to gesture towards Hermione and Ron, who were seated across the room, Hermione with her homework spread over four tables, and Ron filing out an order form for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.   
  
"Naw, they're too busy right now to even notice I'm gone. So where did you come from?" Gemini was slightly aware of the fact that he was asking more questions, than he was answering, but she didn't particularly care, simply happy to have someone to talk with.   
  
"Back in America, New Jersey. It's nice there, when it's not raining, snowing twenty inches in one night, having a hurricane, one hundred degrees, or barely zero." And she paused to grin sarcastically. She stopped to look at the schedule, which was sitting next to her Divination homework, and asked, "Tomorrow we have Care of Magical Creatures, what's that like?"  
  
It was Harry's turn to grin, "It's a great class, Hagrid's the teacher, but consider yourself lucky if he doesn't start handing out treacle fudge."  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Back in the Sagitta estate Andromeda was rushing around like a lunatic, she had stayed longer than was wise at lunch, and come home to be informed by a rather annoyed Cassiopeia that her date would be arriving in a few hours. Her hair was a lost cause as she relentlessly tried to do something with it. All her makeup was in desperate need of fixing up. So as she tried to get dressed, fix her hair, clean her makeup, and explain to Cassiopeia why she had been so late, she was also thinking of her date with Severus.  
  
What a good time it had been. She had laughed more freely than she could remember in years. It hardly seemed like this could possibly have been their first date, for they chatted like old friends who had known each other forever. She would be seeing him again on Friday, but since today was only Tuesday, the thought did little to lift her spirits.  
  
She considered asking Cassiopeia to call her date and cancel, yet some how the thought seemed very out of the question. Andromeda wondered if it constituted as "cheating" to be seeing someone else. However, she didn't feel too bad about it, seeing as how it had been a decision that she hadn't made of her own volition, but had been made for her by her mother, not to mention the fact that she and Severus were still only getting to know each other.   
  
Had she known at that moment that Sirius was sitting at home thinking about his date with her, and feeling oddly guilty about using Severus' name, she would have fainted beyond revival. Luckily, Andromeda was not a psychic.  
  
*~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Finally closed in her curtained bed Gemini had the chance to read her letter. She had spent about a half an hour chatting freely with Harry before he had been called back by Hermione, who had finally noticed his absence and hastened over to talk to him, without even introducing herself, and lead him over to Ron, without asking Gemini to join. "That girl hates me," she thought sadly, twiddling a quill in her left hand as she unfolded the parchment with her right.  
  
Her eyes moved slowly down the paper, seeing things here and there yet dumbfounded beyond belief, so she read it again.   
  
Dear Gemini,  
  
It is so nice to hear from you, I hope to someday have the opportunity to meet you, knowing Andromeda I am sure you simply must be a wonderful person. And knowing that she is back in the country I may end up trying to visit her some time soon, as it has certainly been too long since I last saw her.  
  
I received your letter a few days ago, and have taken my time in responding because I simply did not know what to say. I have thought about this for quite some time until I realized that if my reaction was not an automatic yes, than I should not proceed.  
  
Your mother was my best friend and although we have been physically absent from each others lives for the last sixteen years I cannot bring myself to give away that which I know she guards so secretly. I do not do this out of dislike for you; I do this because I must. Please believe me when I say that someday, when it is right, you will know.  
  
I can however, because I feel as though I cannot totally let you down, tell you this one clue, although you may not see its importance. He is a match in the darkness, a lantern in the sky. If this does not make sense rest assured that it will someday, however I have no idea when this day will come.  
  
Sincerely Yours,  
  
Hydra  
  
"Argh!" Exclaimed Gemini in an exasperated voice "'A match in the darkness, a lantern in the sky'" she quoted in a haughty, fake British accent. "Thanks for nothing!" And with this she withdrew her curtains, and leaned over to open her nightstand, shoving the letter inside.  
  
She caught a brief glimpse of Hermione rapidly turning the pages of a massive book, as she closed the hangings. The expression on Hermione's face was one of loathing, abhorrence, which slightly irked Gemini, seeing as how they had never formally met. But she did not think of it long, before her eyes, much too heavy, closed themselves, and she lapsed into a fitful sleep.   
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
In his house Sirius was slumped into his chair, cradling his head in his hands. How could he have been so stupid! How could he have not realized that he would never be able to explain himself? He could just imagine it now: "Hi, my name is actually Sirius Black, the guy who never called you back, and I've been pretending to be Severus Snape for the past days because I wanted to get to know the real you, even though you weren't meeting the real me. But hey, I'm not crazy."  
  
He would just have to stick it out, and see how things went through. The damage was already done, there was nothing left to do but simply ride the wave and see if it was a wipeout. He only hoped that he would be wearing his Swim Safe Water Bubble...  
  
He turned his head towards his desk, the same oak desk from all those years ago, upon it he noted a small picture of James, Remus, and himself back at Hogwarts. They were sitting under a small willow tree, but definitely not the whomping willow. Sitting with their backs to the trunk they chatted excitedly about school holidays, teachers, tests, and Quidditch. Never could they have imagined the pain that would come, the horror, which would take over their lives, when they least expected it. They were too young, too carefree. What wouldn't he give to go back to those days, the days when their biggest problem was how to deal with that slimy git, Snape? He would have given everything he had...everything.  
  
"James...Lily..." and Sirius rocked violently in his chair, "Oh, James, what was I thinking! I never should have convinced you to switch me with Peter. I would have rather died than give you away...I would have rather died. And in a way, I did."   
  
The tears were streaming down his face unheeded. It was his fault; it would always be his fault. He might as well have killed them with his own bare hands. He felt as though he didn't deserve to be happy, never again...   
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
The doorbell of the Sagitta house was a nice loud one, so that it could be heard throughout the entire estate. Usually Andromeda thought of it as a happy, and cheerful sound, but at the moment it was simply a reminder of the fact that her mother had succeeded in talking her into yet another thing, and she had not even protested.  
  
"Are you ready?" Asked Cassiopeia, with a look on her face, which was unable to hide the fact that she did not approve of the way her daughter was dressed, yet seeing as how he was already here it was too late to be fixed, so she would simply have to stomach it.  
  
"For crying aloud!" Andromeda thought profusely, "If she likes him so much why doesn't she date him, certainly would save me a lot of trouble."  
  
Cassiopeia hastened from the room into the hallway where she apparated down to the main hall to answer her door. Despite the large size of the house Cassiopeia had refused for years to hire a butler, she insisted that it was not necessary and would simply be ostentatious, Andromeda never bothered to point out to her that the size of the house, itself, was ostentatious.  
  
She could vaguely hear the sounds of footsteps along the wooden floors of hall outside. She fidgeted with her skirt trying to smooth it out, despite the fact that it was perfectly iron straight, the only thing her mother had done while she had been worrying if Andromeda was going to make it home on time.  
  
Glancing around the room she noted the trophies, polished and gleaming in their stands. She remembered winning them, she remembered the feeling in her stomach everytime, while she waited to hear who had won; it was always her.   
  
As a child she couldn't have cared less about winning them; but Cassiopeia had. Andromeda had always known that Cassiopeia had gotten more satisfaction out of Andromeda's success, than she herself had. It hadn't been until she had become much older that she had realized how wrong that was.  
  
The trophies read different things: Most Bewitching Looks, Most Charming Charmer, Smartest Witch, and Scruggles Chocolate Designing Contest Winner, to name only a small fraction. Cassiopeia's desire for Andromeda to win had stretched to no limits, until that one fateful day that Andromeda had been anticipating, the day she lost. Although, Cassiopeia had never known that she had lost on purpose.  
  
After that, Cassiopeia had over the course of years realized her problem with expecting too much, and had revised it. Although Andromeda had always thought that it was simply because it was either that, or look like a sore loser. Cassiopeia never liked to look bad.  
  
Her attention was drawn back to her when she heard the sound of a hand on the door. Although it was extremely obnoxious when you wanted to simply sneak downstairs for a mid night snack, there was a certain advantage to having rusty doors.   
  
She could sense their presence out side of the room, and she knew that there was no turning back, he was here, she could no longer fake sick, fall down a flight of stairs, or accidentally trip into an open window. Her stomach gave the smallest of churns as she waited while he turned the doorknob.   
  
Standing before her was the most handsome man that she had ever met, next to the man from that afternoon, whose name was escaping her at the moment, in the presence of this man, who seemed able to hold her attention without the slightest effort.   
  
He walked over to the seat where she was reclining and offered her a silent hand up, "Hello," he said, "you must be Andromeda," he said this as a statement, not a question.  
  
"Yes," she began excepting his hand and pulling herself to her feet, "although I must admit that I haven't the slightest idea, of who you are?"  
  
He smiled a knowing look at her and said "Why isn't it obvious? I'm Gilderoy Lockhart!"   
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
In her sleep Gemini was turning fitfully. She suddenly woke, feeling unnaturally cold. She turned the light by her bedside table on, to reveal that she had kicked off all of her blankets.   
  
Leaning over to pull them up she looked around the room. She had been roomed with her fellow 7th years, despite her age. She assumed that this arrangement was so that she could be with people that she would have classes with, and therefore have more in common with. However, she personally felt that she would have been more comfortable with people of her own age.  
  
Upon looking around she noted that two girls who she had not met yet, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown were still sleeping. However when she set her gaze upon Hermione she was surprised to see that Hermione was sitting fully erect in bed, brown eyes staring back at her, yet holding none of their usual warmth.  
  
"You should sound proof your bed," she began with an obnoxious look, "you were screaming something awful and you certainly aren't the only person in this dorm."  
  
"Really I, failed to notice that, while I was attending all the parties that everyone has been throwing in my honor," she retorted hotly.   
  
Hermione just sat, feet hanging over the edge of the bed, seeming as though she were trying to burn a whole straight through Gemini's head. Then she said "Well, who said you deserve a party?"  
  
"Who said I deserve all this crap from you?"  
  
"You think that you're so special just because you're in 7th year when you're only sixteen years old. Yet, you don't even know the ingredients for a simple sleeping potion!" Hermione was unable to state the first part without sounding jealous of the fact that she herself hadn't been in 7th year when she was 16.  
  
"No," said Gemini, "you are the one who thinks I'm special, or we wouldn't be having this conversation! And I'm sorry that I didn't know the ingredients, my social life must have taken a down fall for me not to have hours of time to memorize every book ever written."  
  
"Well at least I can read," Hermione responded with equal malice.  
  
"So can the people who blow up subways, but that doesn't make them smart."  
  
"Why are you here?" Hermione interrogated, unable to keep herself from sounding like a whining child, "if you think that I'm going to tutor you, you have another thing coming!"  
  
"Are you sure that I shouldn't be the one tutoring you?"   
  
"Ha! On what? Potions?" And she burst into laughter.  
  
"Actually, I was going to say manners, but I think that you have already proven my point for me, so thank you for sparing me from anymore time in this mind boggelingly boring conversation. And don't worry I'll be sure to owl the writers of Guinness Book Wizarding World records to tell them we have a new record: Longest conversation with Hermione without first falling asleep. And with this she pulled her deep red curtains closed. If she had left them open for one more second she might have seen the wounded look on Hermione's face, but the lights were out and she tried to fall back to sleep.  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Andromeda was not sure how long it had been since she had left the living room of the Sagitta estate. Her first impulse had been to leave the room, she felt so embarrassed, and no wonder Cassiopeia had stressed an abnormally large amount if times what a "charmer" he was. Right now she didn't want a charmer, she simply wanted a good charm to get this man as far away from her as possible.  
  
He had informed her of his reservations for dinner at a French restaurant. As they walked into a room where the chandeliers seemed more expensive than her dream broom, a Mr. Clean 2000, the name Un Cristal Dans le Ciel shone in bright golden lettering, which looked as though it was comprised of thousands of dripping icicles.   
  
Seated at a round table, where she tried hopelessly to get away from him by sliding further into the booth, she ordered Parmesan du veau, while he ordered Les Intelligences de la vache. She sniggered into her water glass as she thought, "Well he does have to get them from somewhere."  
  
While they waited for the dinner to arrive they made pleasant small talk. She amused herself by remembering how to play a wineglass like she had when she was younger. She was getting rather good at it when she looked up to see his patronizing gaze and mouthed a "Sorry."  
  
"So," she said, "I heard that you taught once at Hogwarts."  
  
"Ah, yes, giving something back to the community," he said in a 'all in the everyday life of a big star like me' voice, dropping her a wink.  
  
She couldn't help but think, "Wanna give something back to the community? How about that hot air balloons pump that you've been trying to use to make your head look like there's something in it? I hear that the circus is coming to town." Yet she politely smiled and nodded.  
  
"And what do you do?" He asked in a voice, which made her realize that he was actually just waiting for something to try and consulate her about, and show off that she was nothing compared to him.  
  
"Well, right now, I'm not working, I'm taking care of my mother she's got liver cancer."  
  
He nodded, seeming a little taken a back, yet promptly recovered himself. "So, you have a daughter?"  
  
Andromeda sighed; this was going to be a long evening.  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Gemini walked down the sloping hill, away from the warmth of Hogwarts Castle, towards the hut at the edge of the forbidden forest. The wind was howling in her ears, and she clutched at her coat, rummaging hopelessly for gloves in her pockets.   
  
She was walking alone, yet not by choice. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were strolling by, chatting excitedly of the new school year. As they passed Harry gave her a look which clearly said "Sorry," while Hermione's scowl stated, "Back off."  
  
As she entered the clearing for the class she noticed a wizard who was so handsome that his presence seemed to make her slightly dizzy. He was very tall, with silvery blonde hair, deep never-ending eyes, and a very sexy smirk. She felt oddly attracted to him, however when he spoke, her opinion completely changed.  
  
"So," he began, "moved here, have you? What's the matter finally realize what a dump America is?"  
  
She was steaming! How dare he insult her home! He had probably never been outside of this country and she personally, wished right now that she were back in America at her normal school. "Personally," she started, "any country without you in it gets 5 stars in my book."  
  
She could see, out of the corner of her eye, Ron beginning to laugh uncontrollably, but he quickly composed himself when Hermione went out of her way to stop, rather harshly, on his foot, causing him to emit a slight gasp of alert.  
  
Their discussion might have continued longer had Hagrid not burst forth from his cabin at that very moment, explaining, how sorry he was for being late, and relating a slight problem which had arisen, with some of his other charges. Gemini shot one last look of hatred towards Draco Malfoy, and then turned her attention towards her Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid.   
  
Half way across the clearing she heard Harry mutter in an amused voice, "I wonder what it is this time."  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Earlier that morning  
  
Andromeda woke the next morning to the sound of a tapping sound. She murmured "Go away, mum," yet the noise did not desist. Opening her eyes, ever so slowly, she saw the dark black owl flapping outside of her window. She mustered all of her strength to get up, and cross the room.  
  
Approaching the window she could not help but notice the breath taking scene below. It appeared to be very early in the morning, maybe 5 am she mused. The sun was just peeping over the edges of the mountains in the distance, and the clouds were an enchanting gray and light blue. She would have looked at the scene for much longer, if the owl's persistent tapping had not brought her back to reality.   
  
Pulling open the wide window, she allowed the owl to swoop in and land on her desk. She shuddered at the cool feeling of the autumn air on her skin, and was reminded of her home back in New Jersey, which she had rented out in her absence, and the thought made her very homesick.  
  
Untying the parcel she allowed the owl to swoop around her room as she read over the parchment, straining her eyes, which would much rather have been closed, to focus on the contents of the note.   
  
An,  
  
I heard that you were back in the country when I got an owl from your daughter, Gemini. I was hoping that we could meet for lunch today at a new restaurant that I am dying to have a reason to check out. It's called "A touch of America", I thought you might appreciate that!   
  
Write back soon, I can't wait to hear all about your past few years!  
  
~Hydra  
  
Andromeda lowered herself into the wooden chair and pulled a sheet of parchment from the desk. She paused to smile happily at the wizard photo of Gemini in a swinging chair on the porch of their New Jersey home. Wetting a quill she began to scratch her response to Hydra.  
  
Hydra,  
  
Yes, I know which restaurant you mean. I'll meet you there at 12:00. Can't wait to see you, its been much too long. I would write more, if it weren't 5:00 in the morning.  
  
~Andromeda  
  
She approached the fluttering owl and reached out to attaach the letter, which she had tied with a blue ribbon, to the owl's leg. Opening the window once more she watched the owl fly away. But this time she did not stay in her room.  
  
Walking back to the desk she removed her long, fluffy, purple robe and covered herself in it. She returned to the window, and stepped outside. Seating herself in a comfortable wicker chair she began to think.   
  
Something about Hydra's letter was bothering her, although she could not think of what in particular it might be. She unfolded the paper, which was still clamped, in her right hand, and smoothing it out continued to read one part again, "I heard that you were back in the country when I got an owl from your daughter, Gemini."  
  
"That's funny," she thought, "I don't remember ever telling Gemini about Hydra, come to think of it, I'm sure I didn't. Why would she know to write to her?"  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
  
AN: Ok, there you have it, now go and review it, please. If you want part four you'll have to review. Email me, Alissa_Black@yahoo.com with questions or comments. And BTW Hermione is acting oddly for a certain reason.  
  
What's in store for next time? Well, Gemini ponders the clue. Andromeda meets Hydra again. Sirius ponders his situation. Will Lockhart make sure to return the hot air balloons pump in time for the circus? :) Will Sirius remember to wear his Swim Safe Water Bubble? Tune in next time for answers to these questions and more! :) Oh, and you might like to translate the French, or at least what Lockhart ordered if you want to understand what Andromeda meant, and why she was sniggering.   
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Battles of Wits and Wands

AN: Sorry this part took so long. I had mid terms to study for, and I was sick for an entire weekend last week, in which I had planned to write this part. Thanks for being so patient, and thanks for reviewing the previous parts! A huge thanks goes out to Static, my beta reader, who added some great detail to the Draco scene, and made many wonderful changes and corrections to this part! Thanks so much, this part is dedicated to you :)  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR with the exception of Andromeda and Gemini  
  
Two Roads Diverged Part 4-- Battles of the Wits and Wands  
  
*****  
  
She sat in the corner of the kitchen she called the breakfast nook, though if you asked her why she had named it that she wouldn't have been able to explain. She had always hoped to have a family to have breakfast with, thinking how nice it would have been to sit there in that nook, talking distractedly over the coming day... how cozy it would have been.   
  
Yet, when the reality had surfaced Hydra had found that it wasn't very cozy when you breakfasted alone, and she was indeed alone.  
  
The atmosphere had changed over the years. Ever since that morning when she had jogged up to Andromeda's flat to find a dispirited yet determined note from her friend on the door, she found her life in a shamble, stranded in a world which she had only just emerged into.   
  
For her own sake she had moved on, found new friends, and tried to fill the gap; the gap that is created only when someone you love very much is taken from you. On the outside, she was charming, witty, and appealing to the eye. Inside, she hurt, bleed, and mourned the loss of what could only have been the best friendship she would ever possess.   
  
She had cursed his name on that day; Sirius Black had stolen her best friend's heart, then had carelessly tossed it away, as if she was just one of his usual flighty, empty-headed women. They couldn't pretend that everything would be the same after that point; because they knew it never would be. He hadn't just affected Andromeda's world, he had crushed Hydra's too...  
  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Gemini hastened from the hut on the outskirts of the castle to her upcoming lesson, Herbology. Her hair whipped around her as if protesting the very wind which blew it.   
  
In the distance, she could make out the Herbology Greenhouses, and began to catch glimpses of the livid flowers, bright in contrast with the dreary day, which matched her frame of mind very well.   
  
Reaching her destination and pulling the heavy glass door ajar, she stepped into her new surroundings. Most people would think that a green house would be very cold, seeing as how it had no real insulation, with only glass to separate it's interior from the harsh world outside. Yet somehow, it was very warm, and oddly cozy.   
  
Gemini secured a seat towards the back of the class as she glanced down the aisles, trying in stealth to hide her worried thoughts, which mostly involved being partnered with Neville Longbottom.   
  
She was unable to find any other table, so with a half sigh she sank into the seats beside Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown; the two partners in lip gloss sized crime were chatting in hushed voices. Yet Gemini's appearance seemed to have silenced, at least temporarily, the onslaught of giggles and they turned to face her with identical looks of utter bewilderment.  
  
Studying Gemini from head to toe, Parvati leaned in to question, "You're the new girl, right?"  
  
Gemini heaved a silent mutter of 'No, I have been here for seven years, in this Herbology class, sitting at this very table!', then turned to answer "Yea..."   
  
Feeling as though her reply was rather weak in substance, she simply restated "...yea," and then lapsed into silence.  
  
However, Lavender and Parvati didn't find her response lacking at all, though in Gemini's mind they would have to be pretty vain to have the gall to call anything dense.   
  
It was Lavender's turn to speak. "We heard that you and Hermione were really having a fight last night," and she dropped a rather obvious wink, "anything we should... know... about?"  
  
"Who told you that?" Gemini wasn't sure if she was horrified or mystified.   
  
"Hermione, of course," stated Parvati in a way which showed that seeing as how there were only four girls in the dormitory, two of which had been asleep, this was the obvious answer.  
  
"Well," began Gemini before she could control the heat in her voice, "I 'm not sure what Hermione is thinking of. I slept quite pleasantly last night; maybe she should consult a therapist if she's imagining confrontations."  
  
Aside from that total unlikeness of this entire scenario, Lavender simply stated, "Hermione Granger? Tell a lie?"  
  
"Stranger things have happened," Gemini added, in a low voice.  
  
"Like what? Malfoy being considered not hot?" Lavender and Parvati both giggled so uncontrollably that they received a few odd glances along with a patronizing one from Hermione.  
  
However, Gemini merely gaped at them. "You think Malfoy is hot!?"  
  
"Who doesn't?" Parvati asked rather honestly.  
  
"Not me!" Gemini said, a little louder than she would have chosen.  
  
Gemini's partners looked at her in disbelief, but did not continue to question her.   
  
Acting on a sudden inspiration Gemini decided that as this would be a rather long class so she might as well make some use of it. "If you had a riddle that you needed to reveal, who would you consult?" Her mind was obviously still up in the dormitory, along with her letter from Hydra.  
  
Lavender and Parvati exchanged conspiratorial glances and then almost as if they used some rather intriguing style of telepathy, they both whispered, most likely for effect, "Professor Trelawny can work wonders."   
  
They gave her a knowing nod and returned to shelling their Kamostical plants, of which Gemini hadn't the slightest idea of their use.  
  
She returned to her own task, considering the likeliness of Professor Trelawny being any aid at all. The chances were rather slim; she actually believed to have better odds of falling into some time warp gap more likely.  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Andromeda had fallen asleep in the comfortable deck chair and was snoozing peacefully when the annoying little buzzer - the same that goes off when the mind knows that it should be doing something else- chimed irritatingly. Pulling her tired self from the inviting chair, she slowly paced her way in to the room.   
  
Thudding her way down the dark halls of the mansion, Andromeda passed Cassiopeia's room, placed an ear to the oak door, holding her breath, and leaned in to observe the room.  
  
Cassiopeia was slumbering undisturbed on the bed in the center of the room. At least, that was what the shadows that fell through the curtains, which draped their way around the queen-sized bed, would lead any sensible person to believe.   
  
Heaving a silent sigh of faith, she turned on her heel and exited the sleeping chambers with a slightly lighter heart. It was not as though she hadn't wanted to see her mother, it simply was that the moment they met she would surely be bombarded with questions about the previous night.  
  
It was all she could do not to strangle her mother for the horrors of the night before. She recalled, with a shudder, the way that man had touched his nose knowingly every five seconds. She flinched at the memory of when he had tried to present her with a signed photograph of himself, with the air of Father Christmas pulling an extra present from the sack. And she had lost count of the number of times that he had mentioned winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. Though she would never forget that his ongoing total was up to nine; no, that she would never forget.  
  
Taking the stairs two at a time, she bounded down to prepare her breakfast; nothing short of a feast would do after the previous night. Entering the kitchen, she opened the fridge and began to search it for food. Turning slowly around, she screamed, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"   
  
Cassiopeia was standing directly behind her, an amused expression on the usually strict face. "Thought you could hide from me, did you? Therefore, you wouldn't have to tell me about last night. Well you were wrong, here I am." She looked at the surprised expression on Andromeda's face, "Yes," she continued, "as you can see, I am awake."  
  
"But... but... but how?" Was all that Andromeda could stammer stupidly.  
  
"My dear," Cassiopeia began soothingly, " you forget that I, too, was young once; I haven't lost my touch."  
  
"Yea, well, you wanna hear about my date? You wanna know how it was? Fine! It was the date from hell. I can not recall the last time I wanted to jam a fork in my leg, just to distract me from the pain of the conversation! I would have ripped off my arm just to have something to throw at him to make him stop blabbering for even one second! I would have poured hot coffee in his lap just to hear his voice sound anything besides that annoyingly condescending tone he used with me. If there had been a sharper knife, besides the stupidly dull ones they insisted upon giving me, I can assure you that I would not be here this morning. More likely a high security cell in Azkaban, bouncing off the padded walls!"  
  
Cassiopeia seemed to have lost the ability to speak. "So," she began "I gather that you two were not a match?"  
  
"You gather? YOU GATHER! How about you 'gather' the inconsistent mass in your head, which you seem to be calling a brain nowadays, and try to string together more than two sentences where you don't use euphemisms to try and hide the obvious!" Her voice was hot and she was straining to keep it even.  
  
"The only thing that seems obvious to me," she stated with fresh malice, "is that you are put off- No, wait, let's make that pissed off, just to please you-" Moreover, she gave a contemptuous dry smile, "because you can't find any suitable guy whom you might actually consider dating.  
  
"God! This is so like you, Mum! Always thinking I can't handle myself! I am a grown woman! I have a daughter of my own! And for your information I am dating someone, his name is Severus Snape, and I only went on that date with Lockhart to make you happy!" She rushed from the room, her robes flowing freely behind her and if you looked closely you might have sworn you could see the steam billowing from her ears.  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Gemini was rushing up the stone steps towards the castle. Her stomach was growling, yet she lead herself away from the inviting smells of the great hall and proceeded along an adjoining corridor. She was on her way to Professor Trelawny. She had no idea why she was going, or for that matter totally where she was going but a trait she had inherited from her father was the pure stubbornness to have to see something through.   
  
The people in the portraits were talking excitedly, and she finally shook off Sir Cadogan, who had chased her down more than one empty hallway with his taunts of, "Come back, you scurvy cur and fight like a man!" She continued with a little more spring in her step; she had only half an hour.  
  
Gemini had only been to the divination tower one time before, and this had been by closely following the other 7th years. She wandered around haphazardly, knowing that if she didn't find the room soon she would have to return back, and wouldn't even have time for lunch.  
  
Perhaps it was that, which persuaded her to set her eyes on the stone ceiling overhead as she anxiously tried to spot the trap door. Her eyes lingered on a distant spot for a few seconds, the stones seemed rather out of place.   
  
Yes, she was sure, those stones just couldn't be right! The pattern was inconsistent and only magic could have kept them from falling through seeing as how they were not at all intertwined with the others. Feeling slightly better, she opened her mouth to utter,  
  
"Alohomora." The stones changed before her eyes into a wooden plank which swung upwards. From the ceiling, a long ladder emerged, and putting a foot on it to test its stability, she began to climb, placing one hand in front of the other on the rungs.  
  
Her head popped up to enter a room which was odd, to speak kindly. There were pretty teacups over on a shelf, antique rugs were draped along the floor, and a rather large amount of smoke was emanating from the area with the crystal balls. The room seemed uninhabited. When she spoke her voice was rather testy for she hadn't a clue if she was talking to someone or simply herself,  
  
"Professor Trelawny?"  
  
She waited patiently in her spot, not daring to touch a single one of the valuable objects, which were lining the room. She was turning to leave when a voice behind her scared her very much.  
  
"Yes, dear?" It was Professor Trelawny's wispy voice, and there was a slight bit of confusion in it.   
  
"Hi, my name is Gemin-" Gemini started to say before being cut off.  
  
"Wait, let me guess, it is Gemini isn't it?"  
  
Gemini sighed, "Yes," she stated.  
  
Professor Trelawny looked at Gemini with clear self-satisfaction and said, "The fates informed me that you were coming."  
  
Gemini couldn't help but think, 'Well why the hell weren't you ready then!'  
  
"You have a problem my child. I can see it in your eyes."  
  
Gemini nodded; now they were getting somewhere. "Yes, as a matter of fact I have a riddle, which I was hoping you might decode for me."   
  
"Well, of course, after all the gift of being all knowing is very seldom, so we who are blessed with it like to help others whom are less fortunate." Professor Trelawny now nodded to a small table for Gemini to sit down at. "Now let's hear that riddle."  
  
"He is a match in the darkness, a lantern in the sky," she recited with ease.   
  
Professor Trelawny rubbed her index fingers on her temples, mostly for the effect and then opened her eyes to say,   
  
"Ahhhhh, now I have it, it is a street lamp!"  
  
Gemini felt a wave of extreme heat course through her body. Unless she had missed something, she didn't see how her father could be a street lamp. Yet she didn't see the help in infuriating Professor Trelawny; after all, what had she expected? She knew the Divination professor was most likely the biggest fraud ever, aside from Gilderoy Lockhart, and she almost kicked herself for being so desperate.  
  
"Thank you, Professor Trelawny. You have helped me beyond words." A small lie wouldn't hurt, and maybe it would help her pass this wreck of a class. Turning to the door, she left the room to the words from Professor Trelawny,  
  
"Anytime, my dear, anytime."  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Sirius was lounging in a chair at his desk; a parchment lay before him. It was a letter to Andromeda. In it he explained how he had lied to her about his identity. He revealed that he was not in fact Severus Snape. He was Sirius Black.   
  
Yes, Sirius Black, from the party all those years ago. The one and only Sirius Black. The man who had left the next morning before she had woken, not responded to her letter, never called again. He felt the shame of his deed washing over him like a fountain.  
  
Then he remembered her face, the way she lit up when she laughed at one of his jokes. He remembered the witty remarks, and the fun of matching wits. He recalled how complete he felt when he was around her, and how lonely he felt when they were apart. He felt almost as though she were in the room at this very moment, staring at him with that sly smile which often formed on her face, assessing him with her eyes, eyes that held the world.  
  
He sighed, picking up the piece of paper and crumpling it in his fist. He couldn't go through with it. He couldn't bear to know that she would never want to see him again.   
  
He needed to see her, needed to know her, needed to feel her love, and someday reach the level where he could give her some of his own. Sirius had always been a strong man, but this was not a test of strength, it was a test of fate, and he would let fate run its own course... for better or for worse...  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Seventeen years can change so much; yet some things never change. A stranger looking through the large glass windows of the restaurant would have seen two friends chatting freely. These two people talked as though they had seen each other everyday, every year, since they had ever been alive. Yes, there were some things that time couldn't change.  
  
"So, how's Gemini?" Hydra asked, honestly interested.  
  
"She's doing very well. She's going to Hogwarts now."  
  
"I've heard of Hogwarts. It's a wonderful school, isn't it?" Hydra picked up a hamburger and lifting it to her mouth.  
  
"That's what I've been told." Andromeda now paused, "So what have you been up to lately?"  
  
"Not very much. I work at the Ministry of magic, in the memory charms department. I still live in that little flat of mine. No husband, no kids, a few new friends."  
  
"What ever happened to that guy, oh, what was his name...William Hiterson?"  
  
"Oh him! We went out, a few weeks after you left. He finally broke up with Sandra, my stupid secretary, and it was a good thing too, or I would have fired her! We had a date at this real nice restaurant, and walked around the town together. We were supposed to go out again, a few days later, but he called, said he was sick. I took the trip to his house, thinking I'd bring him some soup or something. Well, from the way he was kissing that girl, it certainly didn't seem like he had a viral infection."  
  
"Maybe she swallowed poison?" Andromeda asked with a grin.  
  
"Ahh yes, and so he decided to suck it out through her mouth. How silly of me! And to think it could have been such a wonderful relationship." Hydra tried to keep her face straight as she made her slew of sarcastic remarks.  
  
"Ahh yes, just think, he could have become a doctor!" And they both broke into giggles.  
  
"So what about yourself? Any boats on the horizon... or in the docks?" She tried to ask innocently.  
  
"Just one, though from the size of him, I don't know how much I'd call him a boat. More like a ship!"  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"Severus Snape." Andromeda pronounced each syllable with it rolling off her tongue in a deliberate way.  
  
"What's he like?" Hydra couldn't help but be interested in her good friend's life. Lord knew it had been very hard in the past.  
  
"He's interesting, witty, and rather charming; in fact I'm seeing him again on Friday; maybe you'll get to meet him sometime."  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Gemini was walking down the corridors. She was still thoroughly annoyed with the waste of her time in the impromptu visit to Professor Trelawny, and her stomach was growling from hunger at the food she had not gotten to eat.  
  
Transfiguration had been her last class of the day, and now as she fought her way back up the Gryffindor Tower, she met a rather unwanted acquaintance. Draco Malfoy sauntered out of the shadows to block her path ahead.   
  
"What's the matter?" Gemini asked almost immediately. "Get lost in the halls? See, this over here is the way to Gryffindor Tower; why don't you find your way back to that disgusting, revolting, rotting dungeon of yours. You must be very uncomfortable out in the light, like a normal person." She sneered at him.  
  
His dark eyes flashed, and his expression hardened into one of aversion. "As a matter of fact I was looking for Crabbe and Goyle. So maybe you should just sod off, you incompetent little freak.. before I do something that you don't want me to do." He stepped closer; his hand strayed dangerously close to his pocket.   
  
His words were too much for Gemini to handle. She saw him drawing out his wand, pointing it at her, just as she was slipping her own hand into her pockets. She had no idea what he would do, and she didn't know how to react. But in that second only one idea surfaced to the top of her mingled head. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "Expelliarmus!"   
  
But she wasn't the only one to have uttered the words; she and Draco had both attempted to disarm each other at the same time. Her body picked up and was thrust with sheer force against the stone wall behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Draco's body doing the same. The last thing she did was give a weak smile of accomplishment, before two wands clattered to the ground and a deafening silence followed.   
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
When Gemini woke she was in a white room, with light pouring down a window across her pale face. She had never been there before, but she could immediately presume her location. She was in the hospital wing.  
  
Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, so leaning on the wrists which felt oddly insufficient to support her entire body, she raised her body and gave a glance around her.  
  
On the bedside table next to her she could see a tall pitcher of water with two cups. Laying on the chair across the room were two sets of towels. And she could note that on top of the great dresser were two toothbrushes.   
  
'What is up with this?' She wondered in her head.   
  
Two sets of everything were set up in the room. Was someone else in here with her? She turned the other direction, to the area behind her - only to see Draco Malfoy sitting up in the other bed, propped up against the pillows, and arms crossed over his chest. His gray eyes were gleaming with a look of utter loathing; his hair fell defiantly into his eyes even as he attempted to brush it back with an uncaring swish with his hand.   
  
'Argh!' She groaned, making a face of disgust. She quickly turned her head back the other way and laid back on the pillows, willing herself to fall asleep again.  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
AN: Next part: how does Gemini fare during her hospital stay, will she and Draco make it out with out killing each other? Andromeda and Sirius see each other again! Will Hydra recognize him? Will Sirius reveal that he isn't Severus Snape? What ever happened to what was in the forbidden wing? Can Gemini find a way to decipher the clue? The answers to some of these questions will be in the next part! Now, go on and review and I'll love you forever!  
  
BTW, anyone who can not wait for the next part should check out one of my personal favorite stories: Voices by Static. Tons of Draco, with a convincing D/H plot-line! Make sure to read it, review it, and order your personal Draco clone. :)  
  
  



	5. Half-Baked Ideas

AN: Hi everyone! I know that I said this part would have Sirius and all, but I had no idea how long this in-between part was going to be, however it certainly serves for a nice change in pace.:)   
  
Thanks goes out to my wonderful beta reader, Static, you are the best! What more can I say? Thanks so much for all the help on this part, and not only beta reading it once, but twice after I sent it back *again* with more ideas :). What would I do without you, probably declare a 'National Idiots Day,' and run off into the wild screaming. :) This part is dedicated to you.  
  
Also, thanks is certainly due to bobbi, who is being so kind as to draw a picture for my profile page, with all my main characters in it, thanks so much and good luck with all your stories!  
  
And thanks goes to Tabby, just because, thanks for always being around to talk to!  
  
Two Roads Diverged  
Part Five- Half-Baked Ideas  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
There are only so many hours someone can have their eyes shut, yet not be asleep. Gemini certainly wasn't asleep, yet for the past hour and a half she had lain there with her eyes closed, pretending. Why would anyone ever do such a boring thing?   
  
Well, certainly not for fun, I can tell you that. Gemini had kept her eyes sealed so tightly, only because she knew what awaited her when she opened them: that stupid, smirking, Malfoy git.   
  
Apparently, the effects of her using the disarming charm at the exact moment he had was not a good thing. One of the numerous things that she had overheard during her sleepless hour and a half had been the carrying voice of Madame Pomfrey. The old woman had tried to explain to a disgruntled Draco that they had both broken a few bones, and would need to spend the next three days in the infirmary.   
  
Human bones could usually be magically mended in seconds, but this was not the reason for their prolonged stay. Madame Pomfrey had assumed that Gemini must have a concussion, seeing as how she had not spoken nor been awake during any of the nurse's frequent visits. In this manner, Madame Pomfrey was holding them both there to make sure there were no after effects of the spells.  
  
Draco had rather loudly complained to the school nurse that Gemini had woken up earlier, sat upright in bed, peered around the room, and gone back to sleep, but Madame Pomfrey was not to be swayed. She was not about to release two possibly ill patients on the word of Draco Malfoy, notorious for his lies and tricks.  
  
Gemini knew that she had just landed herself three very unnecessary days with the one person she would have never chosen, yet what could she have done? Madame Pomfrey might have been even more concerned if she had bolted upright, opened her eyes, and announced in a happy voice "Here I am. All awake and good. I think I'll go now..."  
  
She couldn't take it; she was beginning to feel as if she had lost her vision. Gemini slowly opened her eyes, and winced once at the brightness of the room, in comparison to the darkness of her closed eyelids.   
  
She didn't want to look at Draco, but at the same time she felt compelled to. So, turning slowly on her side, she prepared herself to meet his piercing glare. But something else met her eyes. An empty bed. Sheets in a wild disarray, pillow half falling to the floor, and a piece of what looked like lined paper thrown haphazardly onto the wreck of a bed.  
  
Gemini crossed the room to his bed and leaning in to examine the note she read in a mystified rush, "Gone to get something. Don't tell anyone I'm gone."  
  
If that Malfoy git thought she was going to miss out on this obvious slack in the patrol he was sadly mistaken. Three days with Draco would be enough to drive her insane. She had a few things of her own which might come in handy during the lonely hours.   
  
She threw the note down and turned to go, deciding that *she* was going to do this with class, unlike idiotic Malfoy, who had left his bed all a mess. No one would ever need know she had ever left; Gemini would be sure of that.   
  
Swiveling around to face her bed, she tucked in the corners with hospital flaps, and arranged a pillow under the sheet. Under her breath she muttered, "Engorgio," and watched as the small pillow expanded to a larger shape, closer to the size of a human body. She then pointed her wand at the pillow and mumbled, "Marronion" while slowly dragging her wand over a small portion to turn it the same brown as her hair.   
  
This done, she revolved on her heel, and gave an all mighty shove to swing open the door.  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Gemini was running down the halls at full speed... well, as full speed as you can get running with a newly mended broken leg soon after the pain easing potion begins to wear off. She had no clue how long ago Madame Pomfrey had left the room... how long ago Malfoy had departed, nor when he would be back.  
  
This was, most likely, the plan with the most gaps in the entire world history, but she forced herself on. The thought certainly didn't escape her that this could very well be bogus, planned by Malfoy to get her in trouble. He could have possibly never left the hospital wing at all; maybe he was lurking in the shadows, plotting her demise... but it was too late to do anything about that.  
  
The portrait swung open to an entirely empty common room. The whole house must have been at dinner; after all it was the right time, her stomach made her fully aware of that. Gemini took no care in being quiet as she bounded up the stairs. She was going to find her notebook, and the letter from Hydra.  
  
Pulling back the door to her room she gave a start. Hermione was sitting at a desk, looking straight at her with a surprised expression.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital wing?" The voice wasn't nearly as questioning as it was commanding, and it made Gemini nervous.  
  
"They let me go early..." She ventured.   
  
"So apparently nowadays, good behavior can get you out of both jail and the hospital wing. Nice to know." She was just dying to catch Gemini for something.  
  
"You disappoint me, Hermione, I surely thought you would know that!" And Gemini was pleased with the cut in her voice; what was more, she loved how Hermione puffed up at the accusation of her not knowing something.  
  
"Sorry, I tend to leave criminal matters to the criminals. Besides, I'm sure you would know more than enough about it for the both of us..."   
  
"Ah yes, I learned quite a lot in prison, including a few tricky spells and a couple of helpful connections," she gave Hermione her meanest glare, the one she reserved for her moments of outraged dislike. Even Malfoy had never gotten that look from her. "Why do you pretend to hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?!"  
  
"Who said I was pretending? If you must know, I don't like you because you think you know everything; you think you're so smart."  
  
"Oh yes, and that's your job, isn't it?"  
  
Hermione appeared to have no response so Gemini continued, "Now if you'll excuse me I have a few things I need to collect."  
  
"Over my dead body!" Hermione announced.   
  
"Ok, then... no choice." Gemini fingered her wand temptingly and then with sharp and deliberate actions, pointed it at Hermione. Hermione's brain seemed to be taking a rather large amount of time to react so, and before anything could have been prevented, Gemini had uttered, "Petrificus Totalus!"   
  
Hermione's arms snapped to her sides, her legs lurched together, and her body fell to the floor, motionless, and seemingly lifeless.  
  
Gemini stepped carefully over the body, and mused aloud, "Only pity is that it isn't dead."  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Draco was sitting in his dormitory and staring up at the green drapes, which were hanging over his head much like the cloud over his happiness. He hadn't departed to get anything, but figured that it was better to say that he was, if only so he might keep her quiet, by fear that he would come back with a boa constrictor to finish her off.  
  
Stuck in the hospital for three days, with no company beside for the stupid, sniffling Pomfrey, and that obnoxious Gryffindor wasn't very appealing.   
  
What was she playing at, keeping her eyes shut, making the nurse think she was ill with a concussion? Now they were both stuck there, together, for what would surely seem to be an eternity.   
  
Didn't she know who he was? He was Draco Malfoy- and who was she? A nobody, that was who. So what did she think she was doing, faking sick, and keeping him there with her because of it?   
  
She should have announced her good health on the spot, so that they could both go on their separate ways, and never see each other again. And, if she hadn't been well, she should have pretended to be, and waited until they were safely in the hall, before falling down a disappearing stair. Sure would save him a lot of trouble.  
  
He switched his attention towards his mantel clock; he had only a few minutes before he would need to depart. The Slytherins would be back dinner soon, and he would rather not be around when that happened. His head was hurting far too much to create a bogus, yet believable tale for his short absence from the clinic. That, if anything, was a sign that Draco was not feeling like himself...   
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Turning her attention towards the nightstand and away from Hermione, Gemini pulled the drawer open and began to search for her notebook and her letter. The crumpled letter was easy enough to find; smoothing it out, she pocketed it and continued her forage.   
  
Surely her eyes were deceiving her, for the old, battered picture of what she believed to be her father's apartment, which concealed her notebook was no where to be found. She gave a long tug and nearly flew backwards when the drawer separated itself from the stand.   
  
Veering towards her bed, she dumped the contents onto her deep maroon sheets. Riffling through them, it became all too clear that the object of her searching was not there. The parchment with her notebook was missing, and she wasn't sure if it had ever been there to begin with...Had she ever packed it? Was it still at Sagitta estate?  
  
'Oh my goodness!' Gemini gasped. 'What if mum finds it! All she'll have to do is touch it with her wand and it will open. Moreover, if she opens it she'll know that all these years I've been trying to discover his identity...behind her back! And even if she doesn't know how to open it, it's still the picture that I accused her of drawing of my dad's flat!' She was breathing fast now, her heart could barely supply enough blood to reach her head, which was spinning like the earth on its axis.  
  
Never had she been faced with such a predicament; what was she to do? She could only be halfway sure that it was even in her house. Halfway didn't cut it. Where would the world be if Einstien had only been 'halfway' sure about the recipe for an atom bomb? But what was left? Nothing. There were only two places in the entire world that the notebook could possibly be; at home or at school. It wasn't at school, so it must be the other...  
  
She turned towards the door, and with a second thought directed her wand at Hermione, and murmured, "Finite Incatatem ," before slipping out off the room.  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Draco was hurrying down the corridors; he checked his watch at random intervals and then picked up the pace. He could hear the sounds of children, students, teachers coming from the great hall, chatting, walking, and talking. It would only be a minute before Madame Pomfery returned from dinner to continue her watch. He continued on, his eyes on his feet, not daring to look up for fear of being discovered.  
  
Draco had to be securely in bed before she arrived. He would need to get in, arrange the covers around him neatly. And, most importantly, convince Gemini not to tell on him, or at least modify her memory before she could give him away.  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Gemini walked at a quick pace. She was staring at the floor below, contemplating her options. She could not simply forget about the notebook; it had everything in it. Yet she couldn't write home for it, because then whomever sent it would see what it was, and might even set it off if they tried to put a packaging charm on it. She had no idea what effect another charm would have on an already enchanted notebook.  
  
She would need to fetch it on her own. Not a small task. However, she was stuck in the hospital wing anyway, so she could simply depart that night, and be back before dawn. No one need ever know.   
  
Up the back of her robes she could feel her broom, a Firebolt III, strapped to her leg. It was her vehicle for departure. It would be on that broom that she made her way to the Sagitta mansion. And on that broom she would return, notebook and all.  
  
She was still starring at the floor when she bumped into something very solid in front of her.   
  
'Funny,' she thought, 'I shouldn't have reached the end of the hall already!' She directed her gaze upward. Draco Malfoy was standing before her, gray eyes looking rather dazed, apparently he had not seen her coming either.  
  
They heard Madame Pomfrey's voice down the hall, saying goodnight to Professor Dumbledore. With twin looks of horror, they both whispered, "You didn't see me!" And slipped into the infirmary.   
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Madame Pomfrey took one look at the two patients, and then turning her full attention towards Gemini, announced, "Oh, good! You're awake! I was so worried!" Bustling out of the room she went to prepare for bed; that had been her last visit of the night.  
  
Gemini leaned over to turn out the lamp, thinking the sooner she convinced Malfoy to go to sleep, the sooner she could depart. However, Malfoy threw her a glance which clearly stated "Touch the lamp, and die."   
  
Gemini sighed. It would not be easy waiting for him, but if she rushed him too much, he would be bound to become suspicious. Even Draco Malfoy wasn't that thick. So Gemini contented herself with reading and rereading the letter from Hydra.   
  
When Malfoy finally turned off the light, without consulting Gemini, she breathed easier. Now she would just wait for him to fall asleep. That wouldn't take long, maybe an hour tops.  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Damn, that stupid Malfoy! It had been two hours since they had turned the lights out at ten.. what was he doing?! At this rate she would never make it home and back before Madame Pomfrey came in again in the morning. He had been tossing and turning for the last two hours, and every now and then she saw him rise up to check the bedside clock.  
  
Silence. It had been about fifteen minutes since he had made any movements. She couldn't be sure that he was asleep, but there was nothing she could do now. Time was of the essence. She needed to act now, before she lost her nerve.  
  
Blood was coursing through her veins as she carefully lifted one foot, then the next, onto the cold tile flooring. She slowly raised her mattress to reveal the Firebolt III, shinning in the glimmer of the moonlight. Pulling it out, as quietly as possible she heard something, a low ruffle.   
  
'NO! NO! NO!' Gemini repeated in her head. 'He CANNOT be waking up!' She turned towards Malfoy, and as her glance slid across the room she realized that one of her blankets had fallen from the floor, that was the source of the noise. Malfoy was still sound asleep, but for how long?  
  
Gemini tip-toed her way across to the window, and pulling the curtains back, ever so slowly, she began to raise the window, one notch at a time. *Screech!* The window had obviously not been opened in quite some time, and was in desperate need of an oiling. When it was ajar enough for the access of a person on broomstick, Gemini turned to the side to collect her broom, which was resting against the wall. There was another distant sound of ruffling.   
  
"It's just the sheets." She said aloud, confident and annoyed.  
  
"Are you prepared to make a wager on that?" Came an icy tone behind her.  
  
She made an about-face. Draco Malfoy, in the flesh, was standing before her, an angry glint in his grey eyes. She uttered the first thing which popped into her head. In a soothing voice, while waving her hands lightly she said, "This is a dream, just a dream...Go back to sleeeeeeep."   
  
Draco gave her a cold stare, extended a hand and pinched her nose. Then said, "Nope, feels like the same thick headed Gryffindor to me."  
  
"Crap," Was all Gemini could choke out in her moments of anguished distress.   
  
"Going for a ride, Sagitta?" His voice was not interested, but one of contempt.  
  
"Now where would you get a crazy idea like that?" Gemini began, "I simply wanted some fresh air." She made a vain attempt to conceal the broom behind her.   
  
"Ah, and your broomstick needed fresh air too?" Draco sneered.  
  
"Well, it was rather stuffy in here, dust and all, so I figured I'd give the room a good sweep." She was grasping at straws here, but maybe he wouldn't catch on?  
  
Draco stooped down to read the label on her broom, and standing back up he gave her a smirk while asking, "And Firebolts make good cleaning brooms?"  
  
"The best on the market..."  
  
"Listen, I don't buy your lame story, so sell it to someone else. Tell me, where did you think you were going?"  
  
"Nowhere!" Gemini's tone was loud and angry, threatening to wake the whole castle, or at least Madame Pomfrey, but she didn't care. Where did he get off questioning her as if he had any right?   
  
"Let's try this once more shall we, you know for old times sake, where are you going?"  
  
"Not like I don't love revealing my intentions to my archenemies and all, but I think I'll pass on that one, plead the 5th and all. And is it just me, or is this conversation going in circles?"   
  
"Well, seeing as how your pit has made itself large enough for even you to fall into, I would be willing to settle for ovals." He said all this with the air of someone presenting a rare gift.  
  
"Oh how kind..."   
  
"Yes, you know me. Kind to the masses, doer of good, walker of elderly ladies,-"  
  
"Insufferable git." She finished. "One word and I'll-"  
  
"Great idea, you know I always say to myself 'Hey, you know what would be a fun idea? Totally piss off the person who could get me in enough trouble to be up to my-'" His eyes were glinting, his hair was falling forward in the darkness, and he took a menacing step towards her.  
  
"Yea, well, too bad! If you think I'll let you get me expelled from Hogwarts, you've got another thing coming. If you refuse to stay here quietly then I'll take you with me, kicking and screaming the whole way!" Her eyes did their best to stare a hole right through his head.  
  
"I'd like to see you try!"  
  
"Just stick around for the second act."   
  
Gemini stuck her wand out and muttered her spell while ropes sprang forth from her wand tying themselves around Draco's arms, mouth, and legs. This did not, however, prevent him from making an extremely rude gesture at her. He looked furious, his eyes darkening until they were almost black, and she couldn't help but be glad that he *was* tied up, for fear of what he would do to her if he wasn't.   
  
"Hey! You put that finger back where it belongs, or you'll find you don't have one..." Yet she couldn't help but laugh at the pitiable state on the floor before her. "Now, now Malfoy, don't worry, I'm sure the air won't ruin your lovely hair style."  
  
Malfoy attempted to growl something at her, probably some vulgar profanity, but the gag muffled his words.  
  
Gemini paid him no more mind as she looked at the Firebolt III. Surely it could not support the weight of the pair; Malfoy was no pixie.   
  
'Hmmmm, I can't leave him here. He's seen enough to write a book, I don't know how to modify memories, and if I tried I might just screw up, and give him something else to tell Dumbledore...'  
  
"Malfoy, do you have a broom?"  
  
He gave a long annoyed noise, which sounded remarkably similar to, "Yes, you incredible moron!"  
  
"Ok, I'm going to untie your gag, for one second, you will give me the Slytherin password, and that's it, understand? Then I'll get your broom from your dormitory."  
  
He nodded, eyes glistening. A little voice in the back of her head told her that this was way too easy, but Gemini ignored it, thinking there was no other way, and stupidly untied the gag.  
  
"What the hell-" Malfoy yelled, attempting once again to wriggle out of the ropes and bindings.   
  
Quicker than you might have blinked Gemini had pounced upon him, retied the gag, and delivered a strong, steady, kick to his ribs. "Unless 'What the hell!' is the password you better start praying for mercy."  
  
She directed her eyes away from the writhing Draco and to the clock. It was 12:30; precious time was slipping away. She decided to ask him again.   
  
"What is the Slytherin password?" However, this time she added, "Or I will go back to Gryffindor common room, get Colin Creevy's camera, and snap photographs of you tied up in the hospital room by 'An Incredible Moron.'"  
  
He narrowed his eyes but seemed to give in, probably thinking what was the point in fighting with a girl who was tottering on the edge of sanity as it was? She bent over him again to remove the gag, and this time he seemed not about to scream, so she proceeded.   
  
Gemini leaned closer to him; he then remained completely still as she withdrew to replace the gag, his expression one of complete anger and perhaps some helplessness. She gave him a backwards look of warning before slipping the door open and hurrying into the hall.  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
The halls were cold to Gemini's barefooted feet, and she was dimly aware of the prospect of being caught by a teacher, but what was that in the grand scheme of things? A small problem, at the worst. She slid along the narrow passages to the Slytherin common room, down the familiar passage to Potions, and stopped before a suspicious looking stone.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Gemini announced the password that Malfoy had given her, and waited, perhaps for a deadly snake to come out to eat anyone who tried to get in with a fake password. But she was rather lucky to see the stone shift in its place and allow her to enter.   
  
The common room was not empty yet, and she muttered a curse under her breath, she could never get into a boys dormitory with other people around, even worse, what if someone recognized her?!  
  
She slipped into the room and slid into a chair in the most secluded corner of the room, out of the light of the fire, hoping that everyone would ignore her, while she waited as person by person departed. Just when she thought that it would never end the last girl went up to bed, clearing the entire room of all people, except for Gemini.  
  
Sliding like a predator she made her way across the room, along the stairs, which creaked dangerously with her every step. When she reached a dormitory with the number 7 on it she gave a low sigh and pushed on the door.  
  
Four snoring boys met her eyes. And Gemini held her breath while she passed bed after bed. Why did Malfoy have to have the last bed?! His bed was easy enough to find, being the only empty one in the room. His trunk was lying as the foot of the bed, it appeared that he must have forgotten to lock it, for the latch separated easily.   
  
His broom was inside, along with his school books, and other various items of possession. Pulling it out of the case she smiled; that had been easy enough. If she hadn't been so surprised with her actual success she might have stopped to be cynical.  
  
She shut the trunk, turned to the door, and exited the room.   
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Malfoy was exactly where he had been when she left. Then again where had she expected him to go with ropes on his legs? She untied the ropes, which bound his legs and used the rope to tie the two broomsticks together; the end of hers was bound to the front of his.   
  
Then she held the broomstick out in front of him. Rather reluctantly he scrambled to his feet, with a menacing glare, and sat down.   
  
She lowered herself upon her own broomstick and pulled a compass out of her pocket that she had nicked out of Malfoy's trunk. She had charmed it to point her towards the Sagitta estate. There was nothing left to be done.  
  
She had already conjured the pillows to resemble them, in case they were late getting back; she only hoped this wouldn't be a problem. Old Madame Pomfrey might be, but stupid she was not.  
  
Pointing her broom at the opened window she gave a small kickoff, and glided through just barely fitting. Malfoy followed after a rather tense moment where he had become wedged in between the window opening and the sill.   
  
The air was cold and she almost did a flip in the air to relieve some stress, before she remembered that Malfoy was still attached to her broom. Speeding up and flying past the castle below, she felt almost happy. 'Almost' being the operative word. Now she not only had to get to Sagitta estate, but she had to do it with Malfoy holding her up every step of the way.   
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
AN: Ok, next time, well I'm not totally sure, I suppose it all depends, but somehow I can imagine that their journey will not be a trip to the county park, just a hunch. Also I can promise that there will be more Sirius and Andromeda! :) So now, I leave you to review.   
  
Another thing, before you go, check out Static's stories, she is my wonderful beta reader and her stories are some of my favorites. Oh so sexy Draco, with really great D/H plot lines, make sure to read and review her stories and I'll see you all when I post part 6.  



	6. Close, In Only Proximity

AN: Just a simple reminder; this part begins on early Thursday morning. Sirius and Andromeda will be meeting again on Friday. Enjoy! (Special Thanks section at the end, for anyone who reviewed part 5)  
  
This part is dedicated to my awesome beta-reader Static! You are, to put it simply, a fantabulous person :)  
  
Two Roads Diverged Part 6: Close, in Only Proximity  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Gemini and Draco were flying through the sky. Having just recently departed from Hogwarts, she knew that a long trip lay ahead of them. They had departed at 1:00 and it was about 1:30 now; she hadn't slept all night and exhaustion was taking its toll.  
  
Draco lagged behind, and the rope in-between them sagged considerably. She shot a look of wonderment at the vast expanse of land before the two. Rolling hills and vast plains of green fields lay beneath them, and she could make out teeny little dots that were probably houses and buildings. Never in her life would she have imagined the world could seem this large.  
  
"Malfoy?" Gemini ventured a start at conversation.  
  
"What?" He seemed too bored to be properly rude.  
  
"Want to stop for a little while to rest? I didn't get much sleep, and this is going to be a long ride..." She knew how weird she must have sounded, but the need for sleep and rest overpowered her care.  
  
"Whatever." He still managed to hold that bored tone, but Gemini thought she heard a hint of interest in his voice.  
  
Gemini steered them towards the ground; a wayward pine would provide the necessary safety. The branches flew by them as the pair descended into the forest. They couldn't spare much time, but at the same time she needed some sort of break.   
  
Draco dismounted his broom first. He seemed to survey the scene. Gemini propped the broomsticks against a decaying tree and cleared a spot on the ground. She removed her cloak, thanking the warm weather as she laid it upon the forest floor. She then slumped down onto it and leaned against a tree.  
  
Her eyes fluttered closed, as she allowed her body to relax; she knew she shouldn't get this comfortable but at the same time could not deprive herself of the opportunity. She had to constantly keep thinking to keep herself awake. She wondered once or twice why she couldn't steal a few hours shut eye, and quickly reminded herself of the pressing situation.  
  
A branch snapped; normally she would have ignored this seemingly unimportant noise, but something about the night made her nervous, and her eyes shot open.  
  
There was Draco, moving as quietly as humanly possible towards the tree with the joined brooms. Gemini couldn't resist. With just as much precision she raised herself, too interested in his movements to even be irked with his disturbance of her peace. Creeping behind him she peered over his shoulder; he was struggling with the knot in the ropes, working quickly to untie it, while going slowly enough to avoid noise.  
  
He was going to attempt to leave her and fly back! She didn't want him to notice her, not yet, at least. She tried to slowly back away, hoping to seek refuge back at the tree where she had begun, where she could keep a watchful eye on him while he worked, and yet still remain undetected.  
  
Her foot slipped on a stray twig, and Gemini teetered in imbalance. She tried in vain to steady herself; anything would do; she needed support. Her entire weight had just switched in about half a second. No amount of efforts could keep her upright. With a horrible screech of dismay she came down faster than London's Bridge, unto of the unsuspecting Malfoy, pinning him to the ground.  
  
Draco was in that moment confused beyond all belief. He had some how gone from untying a rope to lying on the forest floor, with, not to mention, Gemini on top of him.   
"What the hell?!"  
  
"What were you doing?!" They both screamed those two things at the same time.  
  
"You first!" prompted an annoyed Gemini.  
  
"What do you think I was doing? Getting the hell out of here!"  
  
"You were going to leave me behind?! In the middle of no where?"  
  
"Well, if I had planned on taking you with me I would have woken you up, now wouldn't I? And what were you doing spying on me?!"  
  
"Making sure you weren't doing exactly what you turned out to be doing!" Gemini was outraged, but at that exact same moment, she was still atop of him, so she rather embarrassedly pulled herself up onto her feet.  
  
"Let's just go." Sleep was no longer important to Gemini; she needed to get to the mansion, and as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't think she could make it on her own.  
  
She tossed Malfoy his broom and asked, "Are you going to try and strand me here again?"  
  
"If I was, you'd be the last person that I'd tell. But I'll probably stick around; I imagine this will be an event worth seeing." She didn't like the way he said the last part, but the fact that he wasn't leaving, not yet at least, eased some of her worries.  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Andromeda sat propped up in bed; the wide book was a great weight on her stomach, and her eyes continually slipped in and out of focus as she struggled to stay awake. This was no normal book, if you could indeed call it a book; the term 'encyclopedia' may have been more correct. It was possibly one thousand years old; its date was no longer legible on the copyright page.  
  
One of a kind, unavailable in any store, Creepy Coincidences when Constellations Connect would be a proud addition to any fanatic's collection. She had read this book many times over the years; it was not particularly interesting, but it was the key, she knew it.  
  
Years ago, back when she had been a small tatter totter of only 8, she had found the volume in the library which housed thousands of books, a virtual cloud nine for any scholar. Now, on her most likely twentieth read (she had lost track over the years), she was searching. She hadn't cracked the spine in over three years, but, now back in the mansion, her mind was intrigued; her imagination was active, and her thirst for knowledge was stronger than her foreboding sense of worry.  
  
The forbidden East Wing was for all accounts and all purposes just that, forbidden. She had searched the archives of the house for years, and tried to coax the answer from Cassiopeia, but had never received one. During her days of youth she had assumed that Cassiopeia was simply being cruel and unfair to withhold such important information, until she had come to the realization one day, that Cassiopeia herself did not know.  
  
Years ago Andromeda would have been convinced to say that she had found the answer to both the way into the East Wing, and the mystical contents that lay within it. But over the years, she had mysteriously lost the essential object that was needed to open the chamber on the other end. Just as the tide washes away footprints, her thoughts had faded until she pondered no more over this question.   
One of her only discoveries was that her ancestor Bian Zeroun had founded the house over thousands of decades ago. No picture portraits, or descriptions of Bian had ever been discovered, and not for lack of effort. Yet, one thing was known, that Bian had been a powerful witch with strong beliefs in the astrological importance on everything.   
  
Bian had sealed something in the East Wing, and it was apparently very important. Whatever, had been placed in the forbidden East Wing was likely to stay unknown for the rest of Andromeda's life. She didn't feel the desire to try again, there were more important things in her life at this point: her daughter Gemini, and that drop dead gorgeous man...Severus Snape. Nevertheless, she continued to attempt to find some answers; she could never truly give up, her determination, or possibly her pride, would not allow it.  
  
She took a drowsy glance at the bedside clock and was stunned to see that it was 3:30 AM! The time had certainly flown. She wearily reached down to remove the heavy volume from her stomach, and found much to her chagrin, that she did not possess the energy to lift it. Before further efforts could be made, her head slumped back into the pillow and the massive book toppled to the floor as she rolled onto her side, lost in a land of dreams and peace.  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
Gemini was soaring along, as she had been for hours, the compass directing her way, with the deeply annoyed and harassed Malfoy trailing behind. She could see in the distance a great looming hulk of a shape, which could only be Sagitta Estate.  
  
Until this moment she had never fully taken in the vast proportions of the mansion. Although its size was certainly acknowledgeable from inside, the fact that she had never been in the East Wing had denied her the opportunity to view the entire building.   
  
A lazy voice behind her stated rather nonchalantly, "You may like to fly into trees on your own time. But so long as my broom is attached to the back of yours, might I suggest staying alive, until we are on the ground at least?"  
  
She gave a start and saw for the first time a mammoth Willow Tree looming only 15 feet ahead. Gemini pulled up on the handle, urging the Firebolt III skyward. From her greater height she could just barely keep a steady glance below, as the clouds construed her vision. Dipping down a few feet at a time it was apparent that she would need to land, and soon.   
  
"Look for somewhere to land," she directed Malfoy.  
  
"I'm sorry, but were you under the impression that I *want* to land? That I want to be here at all?"  
  
"Don't be such a fuss-bucket..."  
  
"Fuss-bucket? Someone has been watching too many episodes of Magical Mendell's Storytime."  
  
"Better Magical Mendell than Evil Ervin...now keep your eyes peeled."  
  
However, before he could begin his search, if he had intended to do so, Gemini quickly continued, "Never mind, there's the perfect spot." She pointed to a flat portion on the top of the mansion, which was shimmering as though a bright light was being shone on it, despite the darkness of the hour.  
  
"The roof? And exactly how will we get down from there?"  
  
"I figure that I'll just toss you down and use you as a mattress to land on." With this she gave him a meaningful glare.   
  
"Careful, the weight of your impact may be too much." He sneered, "I'm not sure that I would live to tell that tale."  
  
"And your point?"  
  
Swooping down to the aforementioned area Gemini was approximately ten feet below Draco as she attempted to land on the roof.   
  
"You know this reminds me of something my father once mentioned, and I don't think it's a good thing..."  
  
"Stop trying to distract me, Malfoy."  
  
Gemini continued to approach the roof of the Mansion. The silvery shine was now apparent to be much more than a simple-shimmer, it was a liquid. She could feel the pit of her stomach melt away as the smooth patterns hypnotized her tired mind.   
  
Draco was trailing behind her so he did not notice the glazed look in her eyes. He could not have known the way her mouth was dangling open, nor the way the color had drained from her face, but he could sense the definite sag in her shoulders. Something about this roof was troubling him; it seemed familiar, and that alone was a bad sign.   
  
The liquid began to bubble, as if an invisible hand had switched the knob on a super charged stove. It was slowly rising to Gemini, who was growing more dazed by the second. It was taking a form...a spider?...a ghost?...a hand...  
Draco, who was still too far away to be effected in any way thanked for the first time all night that he was still connected to Gemini by the rope. He grabbed the rope like a snake which needed to be tamed, and pulled with all of his might. Draco Malfoy may not have seemed it, but in that moment, all his strength came bursting through the veins in his body, and this was no small amount.   
  
While simultaneously pulling the cord he tried to remove one hand long enough to direct his broom upwards. It was too much, Gemini was obviously straining against him, lost in her own world, pulling towards the mysterious force of the substance, the name of which did not surface to his brain in those few scared moments.   
  
He lost a foot. He was aware of the fact that in a few seconds he would be low enough to be effected by the draw. He tensed his legs around his broom as he fought his uncertainty in the rush to gain back the lost ground. Draco pulled, but this time with the reserves that all people have deep down, yet can only surface in times of great and desperate need.  
  
Gemini was struggling feet below. Obviously annoyed by his attempts to save her, while being quite oblivious to the detail that she was in any danger to begin with, she seemed ready to dismount her broom. The silver hand reached out, to grab the front end of her broom. Gemini pulled against him, thrusting her weight down, unto the handle, mumbling incoherently.  
  
'Oh, no you don't,' Draco spat in his head. With a determinacy unknown to even himself, he held on, and threw himself backwards, until his head was against the tail of the broom. The rope gave a sharp lurch and Gemini was pulled upward five feet, enough to break her hypnosis.  
  
The silver retreated onto the Mansion roof and Gemini steered them towards the ground. Climbing off her broom she walked over to Malfoy, her head was spinning with confusion. She seemed rather uncertain of the ground beneath her feet, the sky above her head, and the reality of the last minutes.   
  
"What *was* that?"  
  
"Ward Lacitsym...it is a powerful force, the silver captures your attention: it offers you slight glimpses of its contents, but never enough to know what it is, so you get slowly pulled in until... you are in..."  
  
Gemini gulped, "And then?"  
  
"And then? There is no *then*. That's it, once you're in it, you don't get out. At least not in the way you would want."  
  
Gemini stood there in the dark for a few moments, the moonlight reflected by her wide irises. Suddenly she looked at Malfoy and seemed rather embarrassed, "Thanks," she said.  
  
He looked upon her with disdain and said in a cold tone, "Don't forget, my broom was attached to the other end of yours." With that, he stalked off in the direction of the gates to the Sagitta house.  
  
******  
  
  
******  
  
Gemini just stood there for a few minutes; she was utterly unsure of what to do now. She had not told Malfoy, but she hadn't the faintest inkling of what needed to be done to enter the Mansion's gates. At the moment that was among her smallest concerns. She had thanked that double faced bag of bleached scum, he had insulted her again, and she hadn't even been able to muster a response.  
  
What had she expected? A cordial reply would most likely have troubled her even more. She just felt as helpless as she could have imagined in her worst nightmares. How could she face him now? He had the upper hand! She owed him now, she owed her life to someone, and what a person to owe it to!  
  
Gemini quickened her pace. Malfoy was halfway across the yard, and she would need to catch up. Maybe, she would get lucky and the gates would be deadly to the first person to touch them? Even so, she would have to save him!  
  
*****  
  
  
*****  
  
The gates stood tall before the two trespassers. Draco shot Gemini a short look and uttered, "How do we get in?"  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine," was all that Gemini could respond.  
  
"What? You dragged me all the way here to break in, and you don't even know the way into your own house?"  
  
"If I did would I have tried to get in through the roof?!"  
  
"Who knows, could have been a suicide attempt," although he said this casually she was stung with pain.  
  
"Lord knows that three hours on a broomstick attached to you could do that to a girl," She turned towards the gate and attempted to open it with a simple "Alohomora." The gate stood firm, and closed. "Didn't work," Gemini ventured.  
  
"Well, color me surprised," Draco threw his hands up to the sides of his face in mock disbelief.  
  
"Then lets see you try!" Gemini was suffering from extreme sleep deprivation and in no mood to have any crap.  
  
He looked at her through the moonlight, with a glance that was both annoyed and amused, and it angered her while confusing her insides. Pulling his wand forth from the depths of his black robes he directed it at the steel gates.   
  
"Meltaculo!" He shouted, and a single, enormous ray of light burst from the wand and hit the gates. Then in an action that both surprised and horrified the pair he saw the light refract on the gate and shoot straight back upon them. As if from some sort of instinct they both flung themselves onto the grass as the ray, now visibly stronger rushed overhead and smashed into a nearby tree, melting it to the ground.  
  
Raising herself from the ground Gemini rearranged her robes, and chanced a glance at Draco, expecting to find a sheepish embarrassed look upon his face. Instead, she saw him, staring at the gate, thoroughly annoyed, and almost willing it to melt with his eyes. "Nice redecorating Malfoy."  
  
"Thanks. I call it Nuclear Meltdown a la Malfoy."  
  
"I'm afraid it's ahead of its time..." Gemini turned her attention back to the gate. "Open!" She screamed in exasperation.  
  
"Yeah, that'll work..." Draco sneered. Much to his chagrin the gate slid along bearing the path ahead.  
  
"Well, who would have thought, imagine the luck!" Gemini couldn't belive her eyes.  
  
"You don't find *anything* odd about a gate that won't melt, won't answer to magic, but will open upon being asked?"  
  
"Thou is not to reason why, thou is but to do or die..." Gemini quoted.  
  
"Wonderful quote, where did you get it? 'Big Book of Spirit Lifting Quotes'?" Draco seemed oddly amused.  
  
"Nope, the library was all out, I had to settle for 'Slightly Smaller Book of Why Does the World Keep Turning Quotes.'" Gemini was striding down the path already when she turned around and hollered, "Malfoy, aren't you coming?"  
  
"I wouldn't miss it, it's not everyday I get to see an extremely stupid girl walk right into the arms of parole."  
  
"Which is why you are walking too?"  
  
"I figure I can use your body as a shield. It will be nice to know that it's good for something."  
  
"I also have 10 fingers, good for a wide array of rude, yet interesting gestures."  
  
"Might I advise you on where to stick them?"  
  
"Just keep walking Malfoy."  
  
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Inside the mansion, Draco and Gemini were walking with bated breath. The marble staircase was ahead, and to their left was what drew a vague semblance to a cloakroom. On their right was a sitting room, and in every direction were long, wide corridors. The mansion seemed to be lit sparingly, and their shadows were easily drowned into the corners of what could be compared to a maze of routes, rooms, and passages, both secret and not.  
  
"Where are we headed?" Draco asked, it was obvious that he was trying to memorize every detail of the mansion, and finding it rather difficult.  
  
"Um, I'm not really sure..." Gemini blushed.  
  
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"  
  
"Well, I know we need to find my room, but I'm not really sure about how to find it, this house always confuses me."  
  
"You must have some idea!" Draco seemed disbelieving.  
  
"Maybe if we just start walking, something will trigger my memory."  
  
"Or we could end up getting lost forever..." Draco added in a rather unhelpful tone.  
  
"Anything is better than standing here waiting to be caught by my mum or grandmum..."  
  
"Which direction should we take? Oh wait, let me guess, you don't know!"  
  
Gemini was angry; who did he think he was? So what if she couldn't find her way around, was that a crime?! She would not let him think he was right.   
  
"Wrong," she said, "it's this way!" She pointed to the hall on the left, and began to walk towards it, not bothering to be troubled by the fact that this was a stab in the dark.  
  
Draco let out somewhat of a sigh, but did not question her as he followed her down the hallway; after all, what was the point?   
  
They walked side by side, not by choice but by need. Neither wishing to go first in a house that they were utterly unsure of. The halls were growing steadily dimmer as they strayed away from the main hall and deeper into the mansion. With each turn Gemini could sense that this wasn't the normal way, yet at the same time she willed herself to believe that it was, and that in a few seconds she would see her own room.  
  
Draco, walked with his head down, he didn't look up for a few reasons, but mostly because of the loss of sleep which rattled him at the bones. He hadn't told Gemini but he had never fallen asleep back in the hospital, he had just lain there, watching her, knowing that she was up to something.  
  
Gemini had been much too quiet that evening. She hadn't said a word. All the time that he spent reading his books and magazines she simply sat there, not moving, not reading, making no attempts to go to sleep, just thinking. He assumed now that she had been thinking about this.  
  
He wondered if he wanted to be back at Hogwarts as badly as he pretended to be. Madame Pomfrey had insisted upon keeping them their for three days, it was only Wednesday, which would mean they wouldn't be out until Friday, and then the whole weekend would be ahead of him. He wasn't going to be missing much. He didn't get too many breaks, and like he had said numerous times before, this would certainly serve as an interesting thing to see.  
  
So they trudged on, an unlikely pair in everyway, yet drawn together by need and the simple fact that it was easier to work together, than apart, for the moment at least.   
  
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"We must be nearly there!" Gemini tried to sound convincing.  
  
"We've passed this place three times already!" Draco was not easily fooled.  
  
"How can you be so sure? All the halls look the same."  
  
"Because," and here he paused for effect, "we *have* been here before. The halls are not so similar that it's impossible to tell the difference, and what's more, you know it!"  
  
"Listen, this is my house, and I fancy to think that I know it better than you!"  
  
"Then why the hell did I need to save you up on the roof?"  
  
"Because you're a self centered jerk who was only trying to save himself!"  
  
"Nice way to pay back someone you owe your life to!" His eyes flashed dangerously.  
  
"I wouldn't pay you back with the spit in my mouth!"  
  
"You're just too stubborn to admit anyone else could ever be right." A certain truth rang in his voice.  
  
"No, I'm just too stubborn to believe that *you* could ever be right! And if you think that you could do a better job, then go ahead and be my guest!"  
  
"You know what, I think I will. And when I find your room, and whatever the hell that's in it, I'll laugh knowing that you're still wandering around in circles; too thick to admit that you don't know your own house any better than you know me." He said this very calmly, as he glared at her, turning on one heel to stride down the corridor, in the opposite direction.  
  
"Well good riddance to him, I don't need him anyway, he was just slowing me down..." However, in the back of her head she had to repeatedly tell herself this, and even still she wasn't sure if she believed it.  
  
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Draco wandered down the halls of the mansion. He stopped for a brief moment to kick out at a gargoyle in his path and rebounded in pain. Perhaps the mansion should have contained maps, for that may have prevented what was to follow. Yet, of course it did not, and as Draco wandered in the opposite direction, he had no way of knowing that he was entering the Forbidden East Wing, or the fact that it was forbidden to begin with. Yet knowing the kind of person he was, it was hard to tell if any of that would have stopped him...  
  
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Gemini, among other things, was impressively stubborn. She continued to follow her path each time trying to hide from herself the knowledge that she *had* been there before. That she *had* seen these things before, and that perhaps Draco *had* been right.  
  
The mansion possessed charms to make rooms untraceable, so as to keep the occupants safe. No one had ever considered how much danger might come of her if she starved to death before locating her room...Of course in normal circumstances she could have just asked Andromeda or Cassiopeia. Now she couldn't because she wasn't supposed to be there, so perhaps the charms did serve their purpose.  
  
Slumping down onto the floor she gripped her head in her hands. What could she do? Draco was probably sitting in her room at this moment, laughing and only wishing that he could see her now as she wandered around aimlessly. Perhaps she could find him in the halls. Then what? She couldn't admit her wrong...well she could, but she didn't want to.  
  
What would become of her? Expelled from Hogwarts? Shunned from her family? Or killed of starvation? She didn't know which would be worse. Draco had gotten the better of her; somehow he always did. She was always going to be a pawn in a world ruled by Draco Malfoys, simply because she allowed herself to be.  
  
No! She would find her room first! And she would be waiting for him when he arrived! With a bounding leap she ran as fast as possible in the other direction. Nothing else mattered, she had to beat him, she didn't know why, but somehow it felt imperative.  
  
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Draco was now dragging himself down the halls. It was nearly 5:00 in the morning, and he was slowly winding down. He forced himself on, knowing that he could not give up just yet. He would relax once he found her room. Whichever room it was. He didn't even know what it looked like, yet somehow he intended to find it.  
  
Why was he here? The brooms were just outside the mansion, he could fly away without her ever knowing. She had kidnapped him, abducted him, and forced him to come. Or had she? He could have fought her off; he could have gotten out of those bindings in the hospital wing. Lucius had taught him such things in the past. So why didn't he leave? He didn't know.  
  
The gargoyles were saying something, but what they were saying he couldn't discern. If he had listened harder, or perhaps not been operating on no energy at all he might have heard them whisper, "Not that way, that way leads to the East Wing." But of course he did not, and so as he walked forward, with one foot infront of the other their voices were like a lullaby which he struggled to ignore...  
  
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AN: So, I suppose you all saw that coming? ;-) Next time: Will Draco enter the East Wing, and will he be ok? Will Gemini ever find her room? Will Andromeda figure out what's in the East Wing? And will I ever keep my promise of making more Sirius and Andromeda, yes I will, but more importantly his entire lie may soon be falling down! Now go and review and I'll love you forever!  
  
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And just as important, go check out the never ending brilliance of my aforementioned awesome beta-reader, Static be sure to read her stories, especially Voices for all you Draco fans!   
  
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And before I forget, check out this thanks section for everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate all my reviewers; you inspire me to keep writing :)  
  
Thanks to:  
Bobbi, Draco Skywalker, Siria Snape (when is part 10 of Potions and Desires coming out!), Static (you deserve more thanks than I could offer in any thanks section), Emma (you'll just have to wait and see if they fall for each other, maybe, maybe not...), Crymson Tyrdrop, Tabby (don't worry I will keep my promise about Hermione), Glitterpixie, Dittany (She has asked Andromeda before, Andromeda just won't tell her), Memory, Jayna , Blueberry Syrup (thanks for reviewing each individual part!) Ra3212, Ann (Thanks so much!), Angel Grl, and Navi (even though you didn't say anything ;-)  
  
  
And I'll see you all when I post part 7 :)  



	7. Like London's Bridge

Authors Note: I'm so, so, so sorry that this chapter took so long! However, it contains a few things most of you have been waiting to see since the very beginning!!  
  
Dedicated to the world's finest beta reader; Static, for her awesome insight, and always listening to my ideas, and inspiring me!  
  
Two Roads Diverged   
  
Chapter Seven: Like London's Bridge  
  
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Sirius was pacing the house. His mind was at a million places at once. However, it was a frequent visitor to a question that he wanted to answer just as much as he didn't.   
  
Could he live his life this way? He remembered, with vivid flashes, the night of Lily and James' death, arriving in the yard to find the lifeless bodies of his best friends still warm on the ground. Too many regrets, too many things that he would want to change, too much sorrow for such a young man.   
  
For years, he had never understood the love between Lily and James. How they could get up everyday together, go to sleep at night next to each other, and spend all day with each other, never tiring of love, or the others company. It had, and at many points still did, seemed like an impossible feat.  
  
Then he remembered his fickle days before Azkaban. A woman a week, and a never-ending supply of willing ones at that. Could it have been that the person he was meant before had come along..and he had shut her out of his life after a one-night stand? Definitely not. He would never have wanted a woman like that anyway...  
  
But he had. He had wanted them. He had pretended to love them. Made love to them, and then dropped off the face of the earth. Andromeda? What about her? How could she have this hold on him? Weakness, that's what it was. Surely she would never want him when she discovered his identity. What woman would?!   
  
So why was he living this lie? He would tell her. But not through an owl. For the first time in his life, he would do something the way it was meant to be done. In person. Or so he hoped. It was 5:30 in the morning; she had to be awake now. Why? Because he didn't trust himself to wait for one more minute.   
  
Grabbing his cloak off the peg, he turned to the floo can near the fireplace. With a shaky hand, but a firm grimace he threw a handful of powder into the flames, which roared in response. The black cloak swayed around his legs as he stepped into the fire and he ran his fingers through his hair in an absent-minded way. "Andromeda's room at Sagitta Estate!" And he was gone.  
  
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Back in a hallway of her house, Gemini was crouched near the ground with her head in her heads. She knew it must be nearly dawn. She supposed that Cassiopeia, like many other older adults, would be an early riser, and didn't fancy being tripped over.   
  
How would she explain her absence? This wasn't going to work. Who was she kidding? Madame Pomfrey would flip out when she saw their stuffed beds. Her pillows weren't *that* good...  
  
Expelled, that's what she would be, thrown out from the school, or worse yet; arrested for dragging a person, Lucius Malfoy's boy no less, out of school; tied up! He had saved her life...most people would be glad to be alive; she was upset about who it had been to save her. Twisted perhaps, but utterly Gemini.   
  
And where the heck was he? He couldn't be up in her room, if it was indeed *up*. Maybe he had just taken off on his broomstick, and left her behind. If he died, would it be her fault? Would she be responsible? Manslaughter? She didn't really know what the term meant, she had heard it tossed around by adults before though, 'Oh dear lord! How could he be so dumb as to have the potato chip girl try to cook French fries. Unintentional manslaughter, but manslaughter all the same...'  
  
As she sat balled up in a miserable little heap, deciding the probability of her defense 'He was just such an insufferable git, honestly, I wouldn't have been shocked with a medal, but arrest...' she felt something tap her lightly on the head. Tilting her chin upwards, she saw the beautiful gray owl on her shoulder.   
  
"Tempra!" She greeted the owl.  
  
Untying the owl's letter, she settled back to read it.   
  
  
Dear Gemini,  
  
You know, I was starting to get a tad concerned. It's been a while since you last wrote me. You got my owls, didn't you? I suppose you're just busy with school.  
  
How are things going? Tell me which house you were sorted into! Are the kids nice? Are your teachers good and helpful? Do you already have homework? I remember Hogwarts from when I was there; I'm sure it's absolutely lovely there this time of year.  
  
I met with an old friend Hydra the other day at a new restaurant. I'll have to take you there when you're back on vacation! I miss you very much! It seems much too quiet around here without you. I think I'm going to start job hunting soon, I just can't stand being around the house 24 hours a day with your grandma. Even adults have their limits.   
  
I hope you're having a great time, and making tons of new friends! I know you're homesick, and I think you are an absolute doll for going along with this. I'm sure your grandma appreciates it too! Write back soon, I'm simply dying to know how things are!  
  
All my love,  
Mom  
  
  
"Smart owl!" Gemini praised Tempra, "you found me even when I wasn't at school!"  
  
'I suppose I had better respond to this letter as soon as possible, who knows when I'll have another chance,' Gemini thought as she stood up, squinting as her eyes lingered on the bright overhead hall lights. She quickly spotted a nearby door and stowed inside.  
  
Crossing the room, she found everything that she needed to write a short letter. Relaxing into a spare chair, she leaned onto the nearest table to scrawl:  
  
  
Mom,   
  
Hi! I did get your last letter. Sorry I didn't write sooner, I've been so busy with getting used to school here. It's a lot different than back in America. And everyone has the cutest accents like you do!   
  
My first days were ok. I was sorted into Gryffindor house, I've heard it supposed to be the best one. Most of the people here are pretty nice. Except for this girl, Hermione who doesn't seem to like me very much at all. But I suppose I don't have to worry about her, there are enough people here anyway.   
  
My teachers are all good, but some of them seem rather tough. I've already got homework assignments for a few of my classes. And a few of them are very strict! Not to mention my potions teacher, Severus Snape - he just plain out hates me.   
  
I'm sure I'll adjust soon enough, though. You and grandma are too much! Honestly, you fight like sisters! I gotta go, homework and all. I miss you both and love you too! I'm already looking forward to the first holiday break. Talk to you more later!  
  
Love,  
Gemini  
  
  
Gemini felt somewhat guilty about 'forgetting' to mention the fact that, oh yeah, she snuck out of school, and dragged another student into the mansion in the middle of the night, to find the notebook she had been using for the last few years to secretly try and find out who her father was from where she accidentally left it in her room.   
  
But it wasn't like she could explain all that in a P.S. And she didn't particularly care to try. All that mattered was that she find the notebook, and Draco, and get back to their brooms to high tail it to school before anyone had a chance to detect that they were absent.  
  
Tempra held perfectly straight while Gemini tied the letter to her leg, and then soared out the door. Gemini gave one last glance around the room before exiting into the hallway. With a questioning look to both her left and the right she debated for a few minutes. Then Gemini set off to the left, for no real reason in particular.  
  
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When the room materialized around Sirius, he stepped out of the fireplace. He cast a suspicious eye around the room as he slowly emerged. Everything seemed to be antique. An old dresser and wardrobe set looked to be predating the first goblin rebellion. The carpets looked old and Arabian, and he wondered if they might be flying carpets. A bookcase stood with shelf upon shelf of more books than Sirius had ever seen outside of the Hogwarts Library.  
  
Yet, what caught his eye for the longest was the tall, queen-sized bed in the center of the room. It had curtains, but they were not drawn, and in the bed lay the obvious form of Andromeda. Nearing the bed, and being careful not to trip on the stray book, he seated himself on the bed. Sirius just sat there for a few moments, watching as the covers slowly rose and fell with each steady breath.  
  
As he was about to attempt to wake her up, the bed shifted under his weight, producing the smallest of squeaks. Andromeda's eyelids slowly parted until she was staring straight up at him. At first she looked dazed, confused and apprehensive. As she continued to awaken, understanding dawned in her eyes, and she leaned forward to whisper, "Severus?"  
  
Sirius gulped, and simply nodded.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Her voice had quickly lost its tiredness and had taken on the air of wonderment.  
  
"I had to see you-- I couldn't stop thinking of you..." but the second he said this he realized how it must have sounded, as her features softened, and her eyes sparkled unknowingly.  
  
He wanted to finish, but he couldn't find the words. For a moment, they just sat there, staring at each other. Andromeda couldn't tear her eyes away from his rugged good looks, and the way the light played on the lines of his face. He felt silenced by her subtle beauty, the way her whole face lit up when she smiled, how her long hair tumbled over her shoulders and behind her back.   
  
Unknowingly they had moved closer. He was so near that she could smell the leather of his jacket and it made her dizzy. She lowered her eyelids, and leaned in, not knowing what she was doing, yet had she known what she was doing, it hardly would have mattered.   
  
He leaned in, seized her by the shoulders, and pulled her into a deep kiss. He felt so right to her, so close, like she couldn't exist without him. Mumbling incoherently as she pulled him ontop of her, she struggled to control her emotions. Passion has a strange way of making the old person feel young, the ugliest person feel sexy, and the least represented man into a king. Andromeda felt emotions she never could have imagined; sexy, wanted, and for once, in control.  
  
His hands were sliding up and down her arms, and his mouth was pressing insistently against hers. Her heart was racing, and she knew he could hear it, yet all the while she could feel his beating just as rapidly against her too. Memories were flooding the shores of mind, some good, some bad, so instead she concentrated on creating new, more powerful memories as her nervous system short circuited.   
  
Pulling his mouth up to hers, she hooked one arm around his neck. She felt like a dizzy 16-year-old, and for the time being she could forget her problems. She allowed herself to become as totally preoccupied by him as he was by her, and she could feel the tension in his muscles. Each kiss was like a bolt of lighting, striking her heart and radiating out to her whole body, bringing with it new sensations she had never known she was capable of feeling. Some kind of hormone, unavailable in any store, was racing through her, her body was going double time, while her mind was struggling to piece together the parts of some classic movie.  
  
"....Severus...." she murmured against his mouth as he struggled to unclasp the top button of her robes. He flinched, and for a second he seemed about to draw away so she deepened the kiss. All her life she had waited for the man she could kiss like this, and now she had found him. She felt like she was drowning, but it was a good drowning; she was drowning in her own happiness, drowning in him.  
  
"Tap, tap, tap." Something was hitting against her door. She didn't care, all that mattered was him, him kissing her, him being with her, as close as possible, and promising to never stop. She felt as though she had known him forever, he was a part of her very being. Drawing away was not even an option.  
  
What was he doing? This hadn't been part of the plan. He hadn't told himself 'Ok, I'll go to her house, have a snog session and *then* tell her...' But at the moment what was he *supposed* to do? Turn away from her? Hardly! Did he care that he was digging his own grave? That he could never talk his way out of this one? No, instead he wondered what he would use as his reason when the court asked him why he wanted to change his name...   
  
"Tap! Tap! Tap!" 'This can't be happening,' she thought.   
  
"Should...you...get...that...?" He asked between urgent kisses.  
  
"No!" her answer was immediate and final so he returned his attention to the beautiful woman in front of him. His fingers were still holding her clasps, but he had temporarily forgotten them in his preoccupation with her face. 'Why is his hair so wonderful?' She pondered as she ran her hands through it in her passion.  
  
"TAP, TAP, TAP!"  
  
"Damn it!" She slid out from under him. "Don't move a muscle," she said slyly as she made her way to the door. Opening it in a hurry she saw Tempra flying through the air, with a letter attached to her leg.  
  
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Unfolding the letter, she glanced down and carefully scanned its contents. Slowly her mind filled with questions. Severus Snape was Gemini's teacher? He had never mentioned it. Surely it was no coincidence that there was another man out there named Severus Snape, it had to be one and the same person.   
  
She turned slowly around to set him under her coldest stare, and Sirius shifted uncomfortably under her glare. It felt as though someone had plunged a hand down his throat and pulled his stomach inside out. "Who are you?" There was obviously a dangerous tone in her voice.  
  
"Severus Snape." He was trying harder to convince her than was natural, and he knew she would detect the worry in his response.  
  
"I'm sorry," Andromeda began in a cold, sarcastic tone, "I wanted your real name, not the one you play house with." The same passionate woman stood before him, but her passion was different - not of desire, but of betrayal.   
  
"Well," he began, "my name isn't technically Severus Snape."  
  
"I'm guessing that it's not simply Sevie Snape either."  
  
"No..."  
  
"Would it be too much trouble to ask what your name *is*?" Her eyes were flashing, no room for lies, no time to create them, no desire to enforce them, he opted for the truth.  
  
"Mynameissiriusblack." He said in one breath, very quickly.  
  
"Sorry, but I'm not native in the tongue of Giberish, so humor me and say that without trying to first die of asphyxiation."  
  
He just stared at her, his eyes desperately conveying to her the message that his lips could not, trying with all his heart to subliminally say to her, 'Don't make me do this to you.'  
  
But there was no room in her heart for any such message, and as he stood before her he plunged recklessly ahead, "My name," and here he paused, "is Sirius Black."  
  
Most unfortunately, Andromeda was still standing next to the table that was at the side of her door. Her fingers were shaking, and as she stood there, the words echoing in her mind, her hand grabbed the nearest thing, an antique clock, a very pretty, and very valuable one at that, and with a rage unknown to even herself she hurtled it across the room, straight at his head, with a cry to wake the dead, "YOU BASTARD!"   
  
It couldn't have been a closer call. Sirius was a tick away from being eligible to join the headless hunt when his defense instincts kicked in and he ducked, just in time to feel the air above his hair blow with the breeze of the propelled object.   
  
The wall however possessed no instincts, nor the ability to duck - the antique clock came in contact with a gut wrenching CRACK! as it became only recognizable through its erratic ticks and tocks.   
  
"What the HELL are you doing here?!" Her body shook, but her voice did not.  
  
"I came to tell you..."  
  
"Like hell you did! You were never going to tell me, you slimy, insensitive, self absorbed, conceited ASS! You were just going to lead me on in circles, while you silently joked over how hilarious it was that you could ruin the same person's life TWICE." She screamed the last word, and she saw him flinch.  
  
"Ruin your LIFE!? A one night stand ruined your LIFE? I bet you didn't even remember it! Know why? Because you were schnokled up to your ears! "  
  
"I remember it everyday, it's not something that you can just forget, not with a living, breathing, constant reminder!"  
  
"What? What reminder?"  
  
"YOU wouldn't understand."   
  
"Let me *explain*." He was obviously checking his emotions much better than she, and this did not comfort her; it simply provoked her even more.  
  
"What is there to bloody explain? I think I can figure this one out on my own! You saw me, knew who I was, lied about who you were, and lead me on, totally aware of the fact that you took advantage of me all those years ago."  
  
"Congratulations, Sherlock Holmes, you couldn't be more wrong. And you know what, the reason why you're so pissed is because you know I didn't take advantage of you - you just wish I had."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"That's right! You wish I had, so that you could pretend that you had nothing to do with anything that happened that night, so that you could add your name to the list of Women Taken Advantage Of By Sirius Black. I'm here to let you know, my dear, you'll be hard pressed to find any such list."  
  
He stalked past her, back to the fireplace, with one quick grab of some floo powder, and an utterance of his address he was gone.  
  
Andromeda found her way back to the bed; covered in its tangled sheets were little pieces of the alarm clock on top.   
  
'Tick...tock.......tick..tock........tick......tock.'  
  
"Shut up!" Andromeda yelled at the pitiful remainders, and her head sunk down into her pillows, willing herself to believe it all a dream, or perhaps, more fittingly, a nightmare.  
  
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Gemini need not have worried about her defense, because Draco, for the meanwhile was ok: sleep deprived, annoyed, and hungry, but ok. The gargoyles had long since stopped whispering, because they finally decided it was a lost cause.   
  
Draco slowly trudged ahead, along the path through the East Wing, without the slightest inkling that he was in any danger at all. The halls continued to get somewhat darker, and call it a cliché, but there was danger in the air. He could have been walking to the gates of hell for all he knew. One thing he was sure of was the great fun he would have when he found her room first.  
  
'Uh, oh,' he said to himself, 'dead end.'  
  
Looming in the distance some feet ahead was a great brick wall. Exactly how old it was, you couldn't quite tell. But for the purpose of knowledge it will suffice to say that it was indeed very old. Draco was just about to turn away when a glint of silver caught his eye, drawing his attention. He closed the distance between himself and the wall with a few long strides.  
  
Using the sleeve of his robe to wipe away the calcium deposits that had formed over the years, he leaned in to read:  
  
You will find many versions of me  
Yet only one is right  
I can be bent, twisted, thrown away  
I have been known to bite  
In pure form I'm clear as day  
You can find me in black and white  
  
'A riddle,' Draco thought to himself, 'and not a very hard one at that, almost too easy...the answer is obviously 'the truth', yet who-'  
  
His last sentence was cut off as the stone wall shifted aside allowing him passage. Chancing a look inside he saw the deep brick walls lined with torches, none of them lit - a pathway to darkness. What to do?   
  
Surely this wasn't the way to Gemini's room, yet it looked so interesting...what was special enough to have a wall in front of it? And who was devious enough to seal a chamber with a riddle that anyone could decipher? Draco turned around to look behind him, back into the hall, and then to see into the hidden passage; it was obvious which one seemed more interesting. A piece of his robe got snagged on the ancient rock and Draco reached down to pull himself free, ripping a few inches apart from his robe, and tossing them aside. He turned his attention back to the decision.  
  
It wasn't like there was anything deadly inside... Setting his mind, he picked his wand out of his pocket and placed it into the palm of his hand. Grabbing the nearest torch, he used a simple spell to set it alight and then took the step over the threshold and a few more to see further ahead.  
  
Behind him he heard the faint sound of the door sliding back in place. Draco turned and ran back to the door, searching with his hands to find some hidden opening. Yet there was none. "Alohomora," he directed his wand at the wall in a desperate gesture. A black hole formed in the wall, swallowed up the light from his spell, and sealed again. No magic could open this. In the place of the door there was now a picture, missing many parts. Looking once more to the passage ahead, he began to walk; there was no turning back.  
  
*****  
  
  
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Gemini had been wandering for a little while now. One thing was for sure, she was no longer going in circles. She was quite certain that this was the way to her room, as some of the pictures on the walls became familiar.   
  
A few of them had begun to wake up and were beginning to say their cheery, "Hello's." A few hundred years old perhaps, but cheery all the same. And as the halls began to get brighter Gemini could tell she was entering the inhabited part of the mansion.  
  
A door was coming up on her right, and she made up her mind to look inside to get a general feel for her location. Approaching the door she slowed down, in case someone was inside, and placed her hand firmly on the handle. Turning the knob a fraction of a degree with every turn, she finally made enough progress to see inside.   
  
It was the old living room, complete with bay view windows. A light was on inside the room, which frightened her enough to close the door before looking any further. She contented her self with the knowledge that her room was only a hall away.  
  
Humming a tune to herself as she carried on, she stopped to look in one of the mirrors that lined the walls. Her eyes had large bags under them and her hair was a disarray of tangled strands; she looked as though she hadn't eaten in days. Slowly backing away, she turned the last corner to her room.  
  
The door looked so familiar and not daring to believe it she thrust an arm out to quickly turn the handle for all it was worth. Her heart filled as she saw the room come into view. Scurrying in, she opened her bedside drawer...the notebook wasn't there.  
  
Gemini ran to her bookshelf, nor was it there. Finally she pulled the key to her trunk out of her pocket and plopped down to unlock it. Placing aside spare knicks and knacks at the very bottom of the trunk she found what she was looking for, her notebook concealed in the picture.  
  
The bed looked so inviting, and she was tempted to lie down. But she needed to get back to school, and she couldn't leave without that Malfoy. She couldn't just turn up in broad daylight, and not even bring him back! Where was he? She knew he was going to be a problem like this!   
  
All ready to go, and could she leave? No! Because that stupid, smirking, 'I'll find your room first,' Malfoy was still wandering around the house. She mused how hilarious it would be if he got lost in the East Wing and eaten by some passing tiger. She hoped that if this happened the tiger would at least send her a letter; she didn't fancy waiting around for the rest of her life for Malfoy to come back.   
  
*****  
  
  
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Andromeda was still lying in her room. Who cared if she missed today? The world would keep turning...   
  
Fool, that's what he had made of her. An idiot, she must have seemed. All these years, she had actually thought that she had found someone; she should have known better. How could she have for even a moment thought that she might for once be happy? That the world might not be such a horrible place? That she could allow herself to loosen the strings that held her captive so tightly?  
  
Why had he waited so long to pull his joke? And why did he have to seem so cool and collected, yet hurt all the same? He hurt more than her feelings, he hurt her pride too. She doubted her sense of judgement, and the accusations he had thrown at her stung like a wound that just wouldn't go away.   
  
And why hadn't he done a better job? She told him that she had a daughter, yet he continued to use the name of a teacher at Hogwarts? Rather dumb idea, if you asked Andromeda. Had he known who she was all along? From the first get go in the bookstore? Or had it taken him until she told him her name to put the pieces together?  
  
Oh why?! Why had she gone first with the introductions? Why did she have to be in the bookstore on that day? Or at the party all those years ago? Why did the world have to make people like Sirius Black? Why did she have to come across them? And most importantly, why did she have to care as much as she did? Some of these were the same sort of questions she had always asked herself over the years, and it ached to believe that it was fate. That the world *wanted* her to experience hurt like this. That it was supposed to happen. And that she was helpless to do anything about it.  
  
Perhaps she would just stay in bed all day? Maybe she could stay here for the rest of her life... Surely no one would notice, or at least no one would care. Far less painful to hold the world at arms length then to embrace it, both good parts and bad. And then she thought of Gemini. And a light in her heart went on, in a room she had forgotten existed.  
  
Gemini was all she had left. Gemini was her sunshine at moments like these, when the world seemed like one big problem, with out any solution. And Gemini was off at school. Gemini wouldn't be thinking of Andromeda, or of Cassiopeia either. Andromeda could benefit from taking a leaf out of Gemini's book. Get more involved. Make it so that for once Gemini wasn't all that she had.  
  
How could she have ever let Cassiopeia force them into moving? Andromeda had been so happy back in America with her new life, new friends, new job, and nothing to remind her of her past. Then, at the drop of a hat she had given it all up. For what?  
  
Cassiopeia's health? Just exactly what the heck was wrong with Cassiopeia anyway? She sure as heck didn't *seem* to be sick with liver cancer. Come to think of it though, Cassiopeia *had* been taking pills. Andromeda had never stopped to see what kind though. And who exactly was Cassiopeia's doctor?  
  
Far too many questions. Things Andromeda should have dealt with before she had threw her life away to come to the aid of her poor sick mother. But not too late, not for Andromeda. If Cassiopeia was dying of liver cancer, she wanted to know exactly what the heck was up. Liver cancer rarely effected wizards! And usually it was treatable with common spells, only the most severe cases were untreatable by wizard magic.  
  
Cassiopeia may not have done her homework, but Andromeda intended to do hers. Sirius Black could kiss her ass for all she cared, she was going to get involved in something!  
  
Smoothing her ruffled robes, she exited the room and slowly crept her way down to the family storage room, the room entirely devoted to keeping track of the families taxes, receipts, and records. If there was anything to be found this was the place to go.  
  
What Andromeda failed to realize was that she could bury herself in work, but she couldn't bury the pain. Exactly how she intended to go about answering even the simplest of those questions was a good thing to wonder indeed.   
  
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And there you have it. Tune in next time to see what happens! Thanks for reading, I hope you'll make my day and review too :)   
  
**  
  
Big thanks, for their reviews goes to:  
  
Ann (thanks for the awesome review!), Leap, Siria Snape (I know, somehow I have to work Snape into this! And where, might I ask is the next part of p&d, I'm dying here!) , Bill Weasley's Girl (I LOVE the picture of Sirius!), Blueberry Syrup, Emma (the promise to Tabby is not keeping Hermione mean throughout the whole story), Static (yay, you did such an awesome job!!! I can't thank you enough! I loved all your suggestions and corrections, you are AWESOME!) Lene (I'm so sorry that you had to wait this long, but hey, you got your Sirius and Andromeda! And I hope you'll review again ;) ) Hayley Granda Potter, DolphinZ (of course I'll continue!), Tabby (Gosh I keep missing you, we need to synchronize our sign on times ;) ) Gem, Beatles, Lísa Hlín Óskarsdótirr (I'm glad you see Sirius this way too), Zannuuh, Sarah Anne Black (I aggre, Draco is so HOT, and so is Sirius too ;) ), Ingenious   
  
See you all when I post part 8, and now, I leave you to review!  
  
  



	8. Pieces of the Puzzle

It's here

It's here! It's finally here! I can't tell you how sorry I am that this took so long! I just can't. But I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last part, you guys are the best! This part is twice as long as most others, one because once I got going I just couldn't stop, and also this way at least it makes up for the huge time gap in between!

If you are reading this right now, it means that Bobbi was successful when she came to my aid, and uploaded the story when fanfictio.net decided to not allow me to upload anything. So thank you tons!

Huge, unexplainable thanks goes to the best beta-reader I could ever ask for; Static. Everyone owes this chapter in great part to Static; who on Saturday night, about a week ago, let me email her what I had, and then helped me figure out what was tripping me up. Thanks to her advice I was able to write this part, and write it in this decade too! And she also beta read this chapter in record time! Thank you, you are the best!! 

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Two Roads Diverged

Chapter 8 - Pieces of the Puzzle

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The tunnel was dark and sinister. That was basically it; after all, it was a tunnel. There was scarce lighting provided by the dim torches that were very greatly spread out - so that from far away they seemed like a light at the end of the tunnel, to use a very abused saying. The dampness that was associated with the darkness came unannounced, making itself known only through being trodden upon by Draco. And from the looks of it he was the only person to have ever been in the uncharted area. 

His muscles ached, and his senses blurred. He was only dimly aware of what was going on, which wasn't much. Draco felt like he had been walking forever, and as though he had made no progress at all. The idea of stopping in the uncertain, continuing darkness wasn't appealing. Once he tried to stop, yet somehow it didn't feel possible, as though his legs had no choice but to carry him forward, as though something in the shadows was reeling him in. 

"Where the hell am I?" He yelled in disgust, but his only answer was the annoying repeat of the question, as his words echoed through the tunnel. 

The light of an approaching torch cast a sparkle on his gray eyes, making them seem to light up and shine through the pitch black. His silver-blonde hair reflected the glow from his wand, as he continually pushed it aside to get a clearer glimpse. Despite the dark, the damp, or uneven stones, he never tripped; he was a Malfoy, he never screwed up.

"I need to find a way out of this spelunkers paradise gone wrong. Wandering through never-ending tunnels may be one of Gemini's hobbies, but I think I'd be happier reading about it back at Hogwarts." 

He swiveled to the side directing his wand at the stones. "Gemini's an idiot. Her family are idiots. I bet this whole place opens up with a simple Alohomora, just like that 'locked' front gate…Alohomora!" He pointed his wand at the wall, he waited. He waited a little longer…a little longer…well!?!? "What the bloody hell is up with this wand!" Now was not the right time for him to be discovering his wand was useless. 

He pointed the wand at his shoe. "ACCIO SHOE!" A white jet came out of the wand, illuminating the stone floor. Draco feel flat on the floor as his leg flipped up, the shoe came off, and landed, with a thud, on his stomach.

He peeled himself off the floor in an instant, eyeing it with disdain, as though ready to yell at it for being made of stones. "Ok this just needs the extra effort of shouting. Stupid twit Gemini. She thinks she can lead me here and stick me in her bloody tunnel where I won't get out. I'll show her, the fool, no one messes with Draco Malfoy…ALOHOMORA!" Almost to make up for it, the whole place suddenly seemed way too silent for him. "MARRONION!" He commanded, announcing the spell to turn the walls brown. Nothing happened. 

"Blasted, good-for-nothing, shove-a-broomstick-up-my-arse wand! Damn this house, this tunnel, and GEMINI!" He screamed, throwing the wand on to the floor, where it clattered and rolled away, into the darkness. 

He picked up the nearest torch and bent down, searching for his wand. When he found it, finally, he straightened his robes, and was about to set off. He noticed a turn ahead. A turn. The first turn he had seen since entering. He was about to stop to consider what to do when an old saying of his father's floated through his mind. "Cowards are afraid to continue when there is no reason not to. Fools are all too happy to rush ahead to their death. A smart man knows what he is entering, and deprives the enemy the chance of surprise." He walked on. There was no debating what was to be done. As far as any Malfoy was concerned this problem had one solution: Be a man and tough it out. So he foraged on with the little comfort of having a wand, no matter how useless, in his pocket.

He was still holding the torch in his hand; at the moment he was pissed off at his wand. "One thing for my spell to rebound, it's another for it to not come out at ALL!" He didn't care if the magic in the tunnel prevented it from working, it was all the same to him.

As he journeyed along he wondered about things such as food, sleep, and if there was an end to the tunnel. "Maybe it just goes on forever? I wouldn't put that kind of torture past Gemini, or anyone related to her." Somehow he was feeling more awake as he walked on. It seemed like the tunnel was giving him energy, or at least taking away his need for sleep. This, more than anything bothered Draco. Rather than being glad to be alert, or happy to not be slumbering on the floor, he was pondering why that wasn't exactly what he was doing. He had been taught that when something good happens that shouldn't happen, he should never become comfortable about it, or it would prove to be his undoing. Another lesson from Lucius. He could write a book from all his father had taught him, and then perhaps name it something fitting like; "A Sadist's Guide to Never Being Optimistic About the World."

The turn was still a good couple of yards off. He was taking medium strides, more than a walk, less than a jog. He wanted to know what was behind that turn, and he wanted to know now. It was probably another path, complete with a lovely décor, much like the one he was in now. He quickened the pace and ran right around the bend, as fast as his legs would take him, which was very fast. The stones on his sides blurred into one pattern of dark black, and he felt stale air hitting his face, when suddenly he realized he had rounded the turn. Draco abruptly stopped. He had assumed that ahead would be another, long corridor. It was not.

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Five floors below Gemini, Andromeda was shivering in the near dark. The heat didn't work as well in the areas below the main floor, and everything felt colder, lonelier.

Andromeda was not a morning person. However, with the recent events of early morning she was sure as heck not going back to bed. Not after Sirius had stopped by…Sirius…her mind turned the name over in her head; she hated that name, hated that man. 

"No…I'm not thinking about him. He's definitely not thinking about me right now. I'm not thinking about him." 

As if there wasn't enough to think about anyway. Her mother had cancer, and she was down in the cellar of her house, checking it out because she didn't believe her. She didn't believe her own mother. How horrible of a person did that make her?

Well, she wasn't in the cellar yet, but close. She had ventured down here once before, and only once, as a young girl. She still remembered the day, when Cassiopeia had found her playing in the boxes of filed information, and documents. 

__

Andromeda was only five years old, and as most five-year-olds are, she was very curious. Having already explored the library, the study, the courtyard, and the studio; she longed for something else, something more important. That was when she had picked the cellar; she had seen Cassiopeia downstairs, dropping off one thing or another from time to time, and yet Andromeda had never been allowed, or able to get inside.

"This room is not for little kids," Cassiopeia told Andromeda one day when she had asked to go in the cellar. "This room is for adults. Why don't you go read one of your books, or perhaps play with your toys? There's a good girl."

"Yes." Andromeda had told her mother, but she hadn't left, instead she waited around the corner for her mom to go inside. Once Cassiopeia had become distracted, she slipped inside, hiding behind a stack of old papers. The plan was to wait for Cassiopeia to leave, and when that happened Andromeda would come out and play. How much fun that would be!

Cassiopeia had indeed left, not looking to see if Andromeda had been inside because; "Well, Andromeda must be upstairs playing, I suppose I'll get her for lunch soon." And hen Cassiopeia left, she locked the door behind her.

Andromeda failed to notice it, she was too busy praising herself on a mission accomplished. Only a few hours later, when the room had proved to be thoroughly searched, did she reckon to open the door. She couldn't.

Those had been the scariest hours of her life by that age. Locked in the cellar, nowhere to go, and after a while it seemed no one could hear her screaming. The walls felt like they were closing in on her, and she simply sat there, on the ground; eyes streaming with tears.

When Cassiopeia found her, after searching every room in the house, such a yelling Andromeda had never experienced. Phrases such as "Scared out my mind," "Didn't know what to do," "Never would have believed this would happen," "Irresponsible thing to do," and "I'm so disappointed in you," had come up more than once.

After that day Andromeda never went down into the cellar, or anywhere near it; she never wanted to again.

Andromeda had reached the room. The door was one like any other, no one would have noticed it if they hadn't been looking for it. She tried the handle. It was locked, just as it had been all those years ago. "Alohomora," she whispered, directing her wand at the door, and watching it slide open.

A thread of dust fell down into her eyes from the ceiling, and finding a light switch, she turned it on. The room looked like it hadn't been used in ages; the boxes had always been lined up in order, most recent things nearest to the front. Now, looking at the closest box she saw that it was dated: 1999. This room didn't have anything in it from the last two years, or so it seemed.

She yanked the cover off the box and pulled it all down on the floor, where she sat, sifting through the documents. At first everything seemed in order, nothing from before or after 1999, holding true to her mothers extreme organizational habits. As she flipped through, nearing the middle of the crate she thought she saw something dated 2000…stopping her work, she pulled the sheet out. On the top she read: "Bill for Library Service." 

The rest of the box contained nothing outside of the ordinary. "No information on Mom, no doctor names, prescription notes, anything that might give me something about my mom. This visit was totally useless." Andromeda was very disappointed in the results.

"Where would there be anything about Cassiopeia's medical records?" Andromeda puzzled over the box, as she replaced the lid an hoisted it back onto the rest.

"Well, it's possible she's got it all in her room…trying to get in there, wouldn't work very well - I'd get caught. Even if she didn't see me, somehow I'd be found out, or I'd screw up and let out what I know. Which, at the moment, is nothing except the fact that I'm pissed off over that man…if you could call him a man, Sirius Black."

"Wait!" A light bulb turned on in her head. "What about the medication Mom takes every morning? There would have to be a label on it, in fact I know there is, I've gotten her medicine for her before." 

Standing up, rushing over to turn off the light, locking the door, and then making sure nothing in the room was amiss, Andromeda Apparated up to the kitchen.

The light radiating from the kitchen windows seemed very harsh compared to the dim lighting of the cellar. The white refrigerator, tabletops, and floor, were all in perfect, shining condition.

This didn't surprise her in the least, everything in the house always sparkled. "Well, at least the things that might ever be seen," she thought to herself.

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Sirius walked in the door. His shirt was stuck to him in sweat and perspiration. He had just returned from a four mile run, hoping it would clear his mind. He couldn't just sit around downstairs all morning. He felt as though he would die if he didn't do something. Things were so much easier when he went out running or did something else to take his mind away.

Wandering into the kitchen he found a bag of bread. "Good, I'll make some toast." He thought as he took off the tie. Reaching in and grabbing a piece, he pulled out the bread - which was covered with little furry green dots. "On second thought," he began, promptly dropping the bread in the sink, "maybe coffee would be better. I could use a strong cup of coffee right about now."

Lifting the top of his coffee can, he saw his reflection on the opposite side. No coffee. "Is anything else going to go wrong today? Because if it is, I want fair warning now, so I can stop trying to beat a bad a mood."

He stared up at the ceiling, waiting for a sign. Nothing happened. "Good, that's all I needed to know."

Making his way to the living room he went to turn on the radio; maybe he'd catch that new song, "Just Brew It." The radio didn't turn on. Picking it up, Sirius flipped it over to discover its MagicoWare, the sensor that picked up stations, was totally ruined. 

"AH!" He screamed, venting his rage.

In fact none of these things had broken or gone wrong today. He had finished the coffee yesterday, Harry had broken the radio a week ago, and the bread had been there for four weeks. This was just the first time he had noticed any of it.

The tiny house didn't seem to hold any of the heat and warmth which made it so quaint. Nothing was changed; in fact everything was just as it had been, with the difference of one thing; Sirius.

Hours before, he had felt so sure that he was going to feel good once he had finished his trip. He thought somehow that revealing the truth, and dispelling his lies would lift some sort of weight off of his shoulders. Now he was only more confused.

"What's next?" He asked himself. "It's six in the morning and I can't sleep a wink. What now?"

What now indeed. He had replayed the morning's events in his head a few times. However, every thought he had only brought him back to the decision that he had made the right choice, and said the right things. "What else could I have done?" 

His face wasn't shaven; he looked rugged and dangerous. His unfathomably black eyes were staring straight ahead at the wall. Facing the fireplace.

He remembered all his remarks. _"That's right! You wish I had, so that you could pretend that you had nothing to do with anything that happened that night, so that you could add your name to the list of Women Taken Advantage of by Sirius Black. I'm here to let you know, my dear, you'll be hard pressed to find any such list." _

"Hard to believe I said that…"

And then he remembered a few of hers. 

__

"Like hell you did! You were never going to tell me, you slimy, insensitive, self absorbed, conceited ASS! You were just going to lead me on, in circles, while you silently joked over how hilarious it was that you could ruin the same persons life TWICE." She screamed the last word, and she saw him flinch.

"Gosh was she upset…and just how did I ruin her life? If she wasn't so annoying her rage could have been sexy…wow, I did not just think that. Andromeda has issues. Major issues. And it's not like we were gonna get married…yeah, me ever get married."

"Can you believe my luck though! The letter had to come right then. At that moment. I didn't even get to tell her myself. Well… would I have really told her? I was going to when I left, but once I got there, the thought sort of, slipped my mind, I dare say…"

__

"I remember it everyday, it's not something that you can just forget, not with a living, breathing, constant reminder."

That was definitely what bothered him the most about the whole situation. "What did she mean? I don't know…I'm too tired for riddles. If she wants to convey a message she might as well have put it in a bottle from Brazil for all the good her cryptic hint did."

He flipped on his Muggle TV. It was one of the only Muggle devices he owned. But it wasn't hard for him to figure out why Muggles liked them so much. If he really wanted to he could spend the whole day watching it, never needing to get up. 

"Oh…commercials." He had learned that Muggle term by watching it from time to time.

A woman on the television was there advertising some sort of food for babies. "Baby-Go, it's the only thing I'll feed my little living, breathing bundle of joy, and perfect for a mother on the run!" She now held up a bottle of the most unnatural looking slop Sirius had ever seen.

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Gemini was still standing in her room. She had been in that same position for five minutes now, torn between the bed, and the door. Her eyes landed on the soft, purple, sheets which graced her bed. It seemed to grow bigger, softer, and more inviting by the minute. She almost hoped that the bed might sprout a mouth and say, "Come take a nap!" So that she could, without feeling guilty.

She turned to the door. There wasn't anything especially inviting about it. It wasn't warm, soft, or horizontal, it was just a wooden door. What lay outside of the door was what made Gemini feel the obligation to move on. Draco. He was out there, somewhere, and she had no idea where. This whole plan was feeling like one big crapshoot, the more she thought about it. So she didn't allow herself to think about it.

All that mattered was bringing Draco back from wherever he was, getting back on the broom sticks, and flying like a bat out of hell, all the way home. One small dilemma, she had no clue where he was, not the faintest. And it was a huge house. 

Wandering around aimlessly would only prove to be a race against time, and one that she felt sure she would lose. How could she attempt to find him when they were both moving at the same time? "What I need is a map! Then I can enchant it to track Draco! Ok, wait, that wouldn't work, to do that I need something that belonged to Draco…ugh."

Gemini glanced down at herself. From head to toe not one thing on her was anyone's but her own. Well, except for the paper concealing notebook. "Ok, so I can't enchant a map, but I can still use one when I don't have any idea where things are." She plopped down on the floor, it was far from uncomfortable, but at least that way she knew she wouldn't be as tempted to fall asleep on it. "Where would a map be? A map… Well, that's the kind of thing that would be in a book about the house. But who would be obnoxious enough to buy a book about their own house? Well, ok, bad question, I can think of a few off the top of my head…"

Did her house have a book on itself? She didn't have a clue. "How many times is that going to be the answer to my own questions! Bad enough that I am talking to myself, but when I can't even give myself a decent answer!" She ran her fingers through the carpeting absent mindedly. 

"To find a book with a map I would need the library…to find the library I need a map… well won't this be fun." Gemini peeled herself off the floor, and crossed the remaining distance to the door. 

As it closed behind her she looked both ways. "I've been to the library once, well never actually in it, but once I was in a room right near it, the study. I need to remember the way to the study. Was it left, right, or straight?" Something told her straight, though she wondered if it was just her mind wanting to make some sort of a decision. 

The walk down each corridor always felt familiar. "Maybe I'm getting nearer?" she hardly dared to believe it. "Or maybe," said a voice in her head, "you are going insane. No," she answered, "the first sign of being insane is talking or singing out loud, when you are alone, and then, just to spite her worries she began,

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz, tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la la la la, la la, because of the wonderful things he does…" She skipped off down the corridor, what was the point of being in the mansion on a night when she should be at school without her mother's knowledge, if she wasn't going to have some fun? 

Finally she stopped, the hallway ahead ended abruptly, and she had not found the library. Gemini walked straight up to the end and touched the wall to make sure it wasn't some illusion. It was real. "But I felt like I was on the right path! I **did**! Maybe I only missed it by one turn? 

Gemini quickly trotted back to the most recent turn, looking the opposite way of which she had come, and then setting off. There was a light on in one of the rooms. "It's six something in the morning, who would be up now? Ok…besides myself and Malfoy, that is unless he passed out somewhere. Maybe that would be for the best, I'd have an easier time finding him."

The light came from the library, which they always left turned on. Not to ward off burglars, or because someone might be taking a midnight trip to the bathroom down that hall, just because they always did, and it was a habit that was simplest to not break.

Nothing could have prepared her for the size and structure of the library. "Holy crap in a cauldron!" Gemini gasped, the room was nothing short of astounding. 

Shelf upon shelf of books stacked higher than two levels of the house, with a surface area roughly the size of a large ballroom. And then she thought, "No…no…no! This can't be!! How will I ever, in any lifetime, find a book in here! Not just any book, but the one I actually want!"

This would be a problem, indeed it appeared as though the man who built this library would have easily found *himself* lost in it. "I wonder if there are random areas where you can hit an emergency buttons if you get lost…no this isn't a time for jokes. I need to figure out how everything is organized here, in the next decade."

There was something like a main desk in the center of the room; perhaps it contained some kind of muggle system like card catalogues, no obviously not, the desk was big, but it wasn't that big! Approaching, she saw nothing odd or out of place, but when she was ready to go behind and rummage around she noted a sign on the desk.

****

Please Ring Bell for Service

****

****

Just like the hospital wing, her bed was made with perfectly pressed white sheets. Her walls were white enough to make a person feel blind, and everything in her room was properly stored away.

"Tap, tap, tap." 

Madam Pomfrey rolled over in bed; surely she had a few hours of sleep left. "It's probably some first year, coming to tell me that they need a potion to get rid of their extra head…"

"Madam Pomfrey? It's Dumbledore, I'm afraid I have some rather pressing news," came a voice through her door.

"Mhhhh," mumbled the nurse as she found her way out of bed, across the floor, and over to unlock her door. "Hello, Professor Dumbledore," she greeted him, her eyes dim and confused.

"Poppy, this came for you, the owl brought it to my window by mistake. I'm afraid in my confusion at being woken, I opened it before I realized it wasn't addressed to me." He handed her the letter inside an already ripped envelope. His eyes looked concerned and full of sympathy.

Poppy took hold of the paper, smoothed it out, and lowered her eyes to read. When she looked at Dumbledore again, there were tears forming in her eyes and she seemed very distraught. "My brother Ellis just died yesterday - heart attack, my family wants me to come down right away, for a few days."

"I'm sorry, Poppy." And indeed, Dumbledore seemed extremely sorry. "You definitely need to go."

"But, the students, who will take care of them?" Though upset beyond words, Madam Pomfrey was still worried for her students. 

"Don't you worry, It's all under control. You should go pack now, right away, and I'll be sure to have someone here to keep watch. Leave as soon as you're ready, I can understand you will want to hurry to be with your family.

"Thank you, Albus…" she seemed ready to say more, but then decided that was enough, for tears were running unchecked down her face.

Dumbledore left the room, closing the door slowly behind him, leaving the poor woman to pack. 

Outside in the hall he found the replacement nurse waiting. "Hello, Gilderoy." He greeted him, as cordially as he could.

****

****

Ahead was a table, and a firm, towering wall behind it. The table seemed to be old enough to crumble upon a touch. There was a light tablecloth, made of unfathomable soft silk, and resting on top of all this was an old board and stack of little pegs, collecting dust.

Draco now realized that he was gripping, rather hard, a chair which matched the table, and thought to himself, "Perhaps I'll sit down." No sooner had the thought been completed when the chair suddenly sprang out. Or perhaps, attempted to spring out is the correct way to put it, because Draco was blocking the way, and the result was Draco being slammed in the stomach. He sidestepped the chair, with a hand over his mid-section. 

The chair slid out, as it had attempted to do seconds earlier, Draco eyed it suspiciously, almost letting it know he would use it for scrap wood to build a fire if it tried anything else. But it didn't. It was simply a chair. And he was simply sitting at the table, for apparently no good reason, with a blank board and little pegs in front of him.

"What is all this…oh wait let me guess! Another one of the wonderful attributes of the highway to hell." And before his very eyes the board began radiating from the middle out, turning color as it did. Until it was quite obviously a map. Each little room was a different color, with a tiny label. And everything seemed 3-D.

He turned his attention to the pegs, they seemed innocent enough. Draco reached a steady hand to pick them up, planning to give them a good looking over. No sooner had he come within a millimeter of holding them, than his hand had whipped backwards, smacking into his face with great force. His eyes glittered with malice and misgivings.

He removed his wand from the depths of his robes, and pushed it closer, using it as pointer to nudge the pegs with. The wand was no closer than he had been, when it instantly flew out of his grip, up into the air, hit the ceiling, and fell back into his outstretched hand.

"Why can't I pick up these pegs?!" His hand, not of his own accord, jerked forward swept up the pieces and gripped them tight. Draco was not amused. He swore about how screwed up and creepy this whole place was, while moving his arm.

But it didn't move. He tried to move his feet, but they felt plastered to the ground. He opened his mouth to curse, but his lips would not allow it. All he could do was sit there, in a lifeless body, thinking about his lack of motion. 

"Oh bloody lord…I'm crippled, paralyzed, trapped…I'm stuck!! Wait - don't panic, there's obviously a simple explanation to why you can't move. Just think. You need to chill out so you can move."

And now, like an accordion, his arm collapsed on the table. It was now so clear to him. Like a puzzle he had to solve in Arithmancy class. He felt dumb, and immensely annoyed all at once. "Every time I've made anything happen it's been after I thought it. The chair, the peg, moving. This is all controlled by thought." Then he paused to contemplate the next logical thing that this situation required. "Put the pegs on the board." He stated.

The pegs pried his hand open and as if a magnet were pulling them flew onto the board and positioned themselves quite obviously in certain rooms. One in a bedroom. A second in the kitchen. One in the cellar. Another off in a black area. And a few in the hallways in between.

What remained to be done? The pegs were on the board, which was a map. Surely that wall behind him would be opening up any second now. 

But it didn't open.

Was there any logic to this game? Probably not. The whole thing was probably some torture device to drive him insane. They should have just locked him up with Gemini. It would have worked faster, and been a lot more cost effective than buying a mansion.

The pieces were moving on the board. The whole thing looked like Harry's Marauders Map, which he had overheard Snape ranting about one day in his third year. 

"Stupid fool Potter boy. He thinks I don't know what that parchment was! It was James Potter's old map, obvious! If I could just have proved it before Lupin took it. Harry Potter would have been expelled…but no instead we all get to continue putting up with 'pint-sized celebrity'…" 

"Maybe I need to put the people in the right rooms? Pick up the piece… put it in the first room…now pick up the second piece and put it in the first room. Put the second piece in second room and the first piece in the first room…" But the damned pieces refused to stop moving long enough for Draco to attempt to form new combinations, it was obviously not going to work.

Something about the map didn't quite make sense to him. He knew the house had to be much larger than that, by far, even from the little bit he and the brat had explored. Draco stared, moving his eyes across the board, counting the rooms, 20… no this was definitely not the entire map. Malfoy Manor had more rooms than that on a single floor.

****

****

On the counter nearest to the stove, she saw a little basket filled with bottles. "This is too easy," Andromeda thought to herself, as she picked out the container Cassiopeia used each morning to get her pills from.

"Paper…paper…paper?" She needed somewhere to write the information down. "Ahh, here we go." She tipped a section off the list that they used to write down things they needed. Pulling the pen out of a nearby holder she eyed the label on the bottle.

"Dr. Lanskolminis…and the prescription is Byhopatomine…" she jotted the information down, using the counter as her desk. Being careful to place her equipment back where she had found it, Andromeda now pocketed the paper and headed upstairs.

"It's too early to fly my broomstick, imagine what kind of riffraff I might come across this early…and I'm too tired to apparate that far. The cellar to the kitchen was one thing. But here to the library is completely different, I'd probably splinch myself. I'll have to get there by floo," she thought as she passed through the corridors, which were, with time, becoming more familiar.

When Andromeda entered her room, she flinched, she had forgotten just what a mess it had been when she left it. The clock bits lay all over the bed, the sheets were all tangled in a mess, a great book was laying next to her bed, and the letter was thrown on the floor. Instead of looking at the mess, she attempted to cross the room, and make her way without thinking about him, it hurt too much.

"Ok, concentrate," she told herself, remembering she had gotten over Sirius Black once; doing again should be all the easier. There was a large, purple bag of floo powder next to the tall fireplace, she threw some in, watched it ignite, and stepped forward through the flames. Closing her eyes thought how Sirius had entered her room through this very same fireplace, only hours before, unable to think straight she stammered "The….li..brrar…y"

When the fire subsided, she was anywhere but a library. She could feel it even before she opened her eyes to look around. It didn't feel like a library. 

It wasn't. Unless the library had big, fancy tables, with a diamond chandelier, and a plush carpet. "Uh…oh…" A foreign man that she couldn't identify, came over and said to her "Welcome to The Librrar," he rolled his R's, "Will you be breakfasting alone this morning?"

"Well, actually, I didn't mean to come here at all…" the man looked appalled at her rudeness. "What I mean is, I was trying to get to a library, so if you don't mind I'll just borrow some of your floo powder and be off."

"There is a charge. We receive too many people hereby accident to have them all using our floo powder. The only people allowed powder are people who eat here, the rest pay, one knut."

Andromeda shot him a "Well I never!" look and fished around in the pockets of her robes, extracting a knut and thrusting it at him. "If you get so many people here by mistake maybe you should change the name of the bloody restaurant!" She snatched the floo bag on the floor, picked it up, took care in pouring the entire contents into the fireplace, stepped in and screamed, "The library!" before the man could stop her.

****

****

It took Gemini a few minutes to find her voice, and decide what ought to be done. "What..? Umm, well maybe I should. I certainly won't find anything on my own. It's not like some old witch with thin rimmed glasses on the end of her nose is going to turn up when I hit it. Here goes nothing…ring, ring, ring." She waited with her arms crossed over her chest.

She finally turned away, and started to inspect the desk; that's odd, there was a picture of a family sitting outside "Magic Galore" only the best American Wizarding theme park.

"Excuse me!" said a harsh voice above Gemini, as a hand snatched the frame out of her hands. "Do you mind! And have you any clue how **rude** it is to ring more than once, as if I didn't have ears, as if I couldn't hear you…" she broke off into mumbling incoherently.

Gemini, finally finished with the Spanish Inquisition, had the opportunity to size-up her assailant. A small woman, old, with thick glasses was standing in front of her. "I just wanted to find a book…"

"You got me up from a perfectly good sleep to find you a book!" The witch looked as though this was the most horridly dumb thing she had ever had the misfortune of hearing.

"Well you know this is a library," Gemini wasn't able to, nor did she trouble to, keep the edge out of her voice. "The sign said please ring for service, maybe if it said please only ring when I am in the right mood to do the job I'm paid for, ring, and expect a thorough yelling, I might understand why **you** were so rude, but as it stands, you can see the sign."

Apparently the woman could not see the sign, she slid her glasses up her nose and picked it up, reading the one line over ten times, as though she had never seen it in her life. "Oh!" said the witch, understanding flashing across her eyes, "this is Sagitta Estate, well, now I understand, I haven't been here more than once since I first took the job, forty years ago. As a result, I am sorry to tell you but your sign is outdated." She now took the opportunity to reach in her pocket, remove one of a dozen pre-made and folded signs, pick up the old sign, eyeing it with distaste, and place the new one in its spot.

Gemini bent down to read the amended sign. 

****

Please Ring for Service

On the 23rd day of any month of each odd year

Between 5 am and 5 30 am

"Thank you for using, 'Book Find - if we can't find your book, feel free to shut the book on us.'" The witch gave a nod towards the sign, smiled and disappeared as quickly as she had come.

"Well," said Gemini, "that was certainly interesting…Now I need to find that book!"

She sat down at what she finally found, a book catalogue that was in some sort of magical portal. "How does this work?" There was a button on it called search. Gemini hit it, not so sure it was going to work. More likely some message would pop up, that the button was no longer search, it was actually end the world, and thank you for using "End the World Corporations"…

Instead a message came up on her screen, but it was not discernible until she used the sleeve of her robes to push aside the centuries-old dust. She stuck out her tongue in disgust as she quickly tried to rub it off on the table, but alas the table only added more dust, and she raised her eyes skyward. "Is nothing here from this century!"

Turning back to the screen she saw a few categories, title, subject, and author. Apparently she could search for all three. Deciding her best bet was to search for a title she told screen. "Search for Sagitta." 

While she waited she rested her head on her arm and wished vaguely about snatching some sleep. No. That was not what she was here to do.

The screen now had a bunch of titles on it:

Sagittarius, Why You Are The Sexiest Sign

Sagittan, The Hot New Resort (glancing at the date: 1128)

Sagittarimos, The Plague That Killed a Thousand Men, And How You Can Start It Again!

Sagitta, a History of Sagitta Estate

She stopped, there was the book! There was the book! "Where is this Sagitta, a History of Sagitta Estate?" Gemini asked the computer. Her eyes were flashing, and though she didn't realize it, she was holding her breath; something was actually going her way! 

****

****

"That's disgusting. I pity the baby who has to eat 'Baby-Go, the only thing I'll feed my living, breathing bundle of joy, and perfect for a mother on the run!'" He imitated the woman's voice.

"…wait a second…my living breathing, breathing, bundle of joy…living, breathing…Andromeda does have a daughter…but she's around seventeen years old…and the last time I saw Andromeda…no, definitely not. We were only together once. Definitely not. Then again, Andromeda's not married. And she never talks about Gemini's dad, but well, that's not really first date material…"

A voice in his head asked him. "How would you know? You never got passed the first date…" 

"Shut up," he scolded his mind.

"There's no harm in finding out who the father is; as long as Andromeda hasn't got a clue about it…where do you get that kind of information? I'm guessing you can't call about it over the phone…I need to go to a hospital to find out, take a look at her birth certificate. I hope someone will be there? They have to be there; it's a hospital, it's not like they're going to close for the night and kick out all the waiting, sick people." he walked over to the fireplace, and tossing some floo powder inside.

"Well…here goes nothing," he stepped inside, "The Hospital!" he announced, and the room around him faded away. 

The hospital materialized around him. Sirius was standing in the front lobby; there wasn't anyone around, and all of the chairs were empty. The tiling was the economy type, off white, with alternating pink and blue. 

The last time he had been in the Greater Wizardry Hospital was when he had been born. It had changed a great deal in the time elapsed. 

Finding his way over to a map of the building Sirius realized what he was looking for was the information center. It was on level three. Apparating up the distance he found himself now in front of a desk, with a young witch sitting behind it.

She was wearing a halter top with her perfectly flat stomach showing; her hair was dyed an unbelievable shade of red, the nails on her fingers were extremely long, and when she saw him, she ran her tongue -with a tongue ring- over her teeth.

"I find it hard to believe that her clothing fits the hospital's guidelines…" He mused.

Sirius actually felt uncomfortable. He wasn't in the mood to flirt with some tart half his age. All he wanted was to get the information that he wanted to know, and get the hell out of the hospital as quickly and painlessly as possible. 

"What's your name?" She asked him right before he could ask here where the birth certificates were filed. 

"Sirius and-"

She cut him off, "Sirius? As in serious? My what a dangerous name…" she paused to wink at him. "My name is Natashia," she now ran her finger below the name tag to emphasize the name.

"Right…" he tried to bring the conversation back around to the hospital. "You know a lot about the hospital, right?"

"I know everything there is to know. If you'd like something by way of a tour perhaps?"

"No, that's ok, I can give myself a tour, I'm sure they need you very much here…anyway, do you know where they keep the birth certificate files?"

"Yes, I know where they are…but those are confidential. No one is supposed to get into the room where they're kept." She obviously was proud of the fact that she knew this bit of useful information.

"Is the room locked?" He needed to get in.

"Yeah, but it can't be opened by a simple, 'Alohomora,' you need a specific key." She looked mischieviously, while pulling a chain around her neck from under her shirt to reveal a ring of keys. She singled out one and held it in her hand, swinging it back and forth.

"That key?"

She nodded.

"Well, you know, it's very important," he stressed those last words, "that I get into that room. I'm sure no one would ever notice if you just gave me that key for a minute or two. I'd be in and out before any one ever realized."

"This would be against all policies. It would have to be worth my while," she looked up at Sirius, with large brown eyes. 

"Oh, trust me, it would be," and he arched an eyebrow mysteriously.

Natashia fixed him with a devilish grin. Breathlessly removing the chain from around her neck she unhooked the key, and handed it to him. "It's the last door in the corridor, after you turn left over there."

He accepted the key. 

"You know, my break is coming up soon, and I'd love to spend it with someone." She fixed him with a glare to melt ice.

"Right, well, good luck on that one. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone who's not too picky." And he left the table, where Natashia sat breathless; she looked both confused and indignant; apparently no one had ever turned her down before.

****

****

Flash. The screen came up again. "Sagitta, a History of Sagitta Estate, can be found in row 2460, shelf three, 7th book over."

She dashed away from the computer, leaving it on. "Row 2460…2460, shelf three, book 7.." She turned it into a song, and repeated it as she passed by rows 403 and 920. 

"Only a little while more," she told her self, row 2359 coming into view. She sprinted the rest of the way to row 2460, panting when she finally reached it. 

Finding shelf three and the seventh book over was a cinch. Lifting the massive book proved to be the biggest task of all. However, when she had finally brought down the book, and landed, butt first on the floor she ignored the pain in her legs, and the numbing sensation; she had the book!

"Table of Contents…" she ran her finger down the long list, from the finest foods at Sagitta Estate, to a full list of flowers in the garden, and even a section on sports. Flipping the page to find another side of sections she located the one she needed:

A map of Sagitta Estate….page 1642

Turning over half the book she began to reach 1642. "One thousand, six hundred, thirty-nine…one thousand, six hundred, forty…one thousand, six hundred, forty-one…one thousand, six hundred, forty-four…wait! Where is One thousand, six hundred, forty-two!?" She had the page before, and the page after, but the page she needed, along with its back, was ripped out.

She could hardly sense the room around her as she fled out of the library. Making circles in the hallway, unsure of which way to go, not believing anything that was going on, she ran haphazardly through the house, hoping every minute to run straight into Draco Malfoy. When at last she had no idea where she was, she fell onto the floor, searching her mind for another solution to this ordeal, another way to locate Malfoy, rather than trusting in lady luck.

A few minutes later, Gemini stood up, her hair was strewn into her face, her arms were clenched by her sides, and had a new plan in mind. "Find the nearest gargoyle and see if Draco had passed by it."

The gargoyles weren't hard to find…there was at least one on each turn. The first one she approached seemed to be asleep. Gemini's first impulse was to kick it awake, but on second thought, she decided that might not be such a great idea. Leaning over she lightly tapped the gargoyle on the shoulder. 

"Mhh…grr…" The gargoyle was waking up.

"Umm," Gemini stalled, "have you seen a boy; tall, blonde hair, about my age wander through here?"

"No!" Snapped the gargoyle, settling it self to go asleep again.

Tap, tap. "Are you **sure** you haven't seen a boy wander through here?"

"Positive, but if I see one I'll be sure to page you, happy?"

"What?"

"Goodnight." Said the gargoyle shortly, and it was now asleep.

"Don't I wish I was asleep." Gemini muttered as she kicked her foot lightly on one the nearest stone wall. 

****

****

The seventh-year, Gryffindor, girls room was quiet, as it should be at six thirty in the morning, when classes don't begin for hours. The drapes were pulled around all the beds, except for one, which was completely empty. Everyone should have been asleep. However, they were not.

In the third bed over, between Parvati's bed, and the empty one for Gemini, was Hermione's bed. And inside of it lay Hermione, but she was not asleep. Instead she was clutching at a piece of paper, in her hand, that she had read at least a dozen times. Next to the paper was an envelope with the stamp of some far away country, and on the paper was a letter, from Viktor Krum.

He had broken up with her four days ago, just before the start of school, through a letter sent back to her by her own owl, after she had sent him a letter. 

In a letter. By her own owl. That was how he let her know that he was breaking up with her, he had been traded to another Quidditch team, and didn't think he could spend all year alone, like he had the previous two years. 

They had been together two years, though they hardly ever saw each other in between. What a waste of time. She didn't know if in the last year she had even liked Viktor, how could she tell, when their visits were only over the summer. And the last time she had spent with him he seemed distant, as though a girl three years younger than he could no longer hold his attention.

The break up was not necessarily a horrible thing to have happen, but definitely a shock. Though they were certainly not head over heels for each other, she somehow couldn't imagine the day they wouldn't be going out. It had become a habit to consider him her boyfriend. And now she felt as though he weren't even a friend.

No one knew, except Hermione. She felt as though she should tell Ron and Harry, but telling them would hurt so much. Not because she loved Viktor, and was heartbroken, but because the way he had done it hurt so much. 

How pathetic would she look when Parvati and Lavendar discovered that her long time, foreign boyfriend broken up with her, through owl post? Extremely. And how bitter did she feel? Extremely.

****

****

Books. That was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. "Whew," she thought, "books, everything is fine."

Still feeling rebellious from her actions moments before, Andromeda stopped to observe the library. Yes, there were books, but there was also a great deal more. There were large tables perfect for setting down mounds of heavy books, search portals like the ones back in Sagitta Estate, soundproof booths for people who couldn't be interrupted, and a librarian's desk in the front, with a librarian sitting at it. The walls were painted yellow, and each row of books contained a ladder for reaching the ones that were higher up on the shelf.

Walking up to the librarian's desk, Andromeda rested her hands upon it and looked at the woman. The librarian smiled at Andromeda, but Andromeda didn't smile back. "I'm not in the mood for smiling today, lady," she thought to herself.

"Hello, and how are you? My name is Linny, and I'm the librarian."

"Well, I'm breathing, so that's a plus," said Andromeda not bothering to offer her name in return.

The woman tried another approach. "How can I help you?" 

"Is there anyway you could tell me if a certain person is a doctor? And what a kind of medicine is?" Andromeda didn't know much about libraries, but she figured none of this would be possible.

"Why of course, so long as you have it all with you." The woman smiled again.

"Yes, I do." She took the opportunity to flash a very fake smile, which showed all her teeth, while thinking, "Did you think I was going to ask you to search for anyone with the letters Dr. in their name?"

"Ok, let me see then, and I'll see what I can do for you." She didn't smile this time, but she still looked happy.

"Would that woman still be smiling if I took her outside and shoved those chopsticks up her arse…" Andromeda wondered, while removing her sheet of paper from her pocket.

The woman now turned to the portal on her desk and said. "Search for a doctor by the name of Lanskolminis…L-a-n-s-k-o-l-m-i-n-i-s." The portal made a light humming sound, which Andromeda assumed meant it was searching. The librarian took the time to stare around the room, trying to catch the eye of any person in the room, and shine a smile on them.

When the computer stopped making the noise the librarian focused her attention on the screen again. "Miss…are you sure this name is spelled right?"

"Yes." said Andromeda, leaving no room for doubt.

"Well, it appears that there is no such doctor registered in England, or anywhere under that name, might I know what this is for."

"No. Can you please run the same check on the medicine, too?" 

"Why sure. It would be my pleasure." Looking at the screen she said "Search for Byhopatomine…b-y-h-o-p-a-t-o-m-i-n-e." The computer made the identical humming noise and this time while they were waiting the librarian asked Andromeda, "So where are you from?"

"England, and yourself?" She attempted to be polite, she was in a bad mood, finding out her mother's doctor didn't exist, moments from her confrontation with Sirius kept popping through her head, and the last thing she wanted to do was be here with this woman, but she couldn't change any of it.

The librarian seemed shocked. Apparently she figured that Andromeda would simply brush her off again, and was almost lost for words. Almost. "Well, I grew up on a farm north of London, and my mum, died when we were ten, so I was sent off to boarding school…" the rest went in one ear and out the other of Andromeda.

"Is this lady still talking? This is what I get for trying to be polite. As if I care at all what this lady's life story is. Maybe I missed it, but when I looked in the mirror this morning I didn't see a sign that said: Blue plate special. I asked where she was from; not to hear about every bug bite she got; or every cookie from Aunt Sally. Note to self: never be polite to librarians." Andromeda sighed.

"…and my first husband left in the middle of the night, never did figure that one out becau-"

"Excuse me," Andromeda interrupted, "but I think it's done searching." She was glad to have a reason to cut off this runaway train of useless blabber.

"Oh how right you are." The librarian looked slightly hurt that she had been cut off before the end of her life story, but she quickly recovered herself when she said, "is there any chance you spelled it wrong?"

Andromeda sighed "No."

"Well, the search says that there is no type of medicine, or anything for that matter by the name of Byhopatomine."

"Well," thought Andromeda, "what a surprise."

****

****

He had an impulse. "There is a black space. What if that isn't for me at all, it isn't the secret tunnel that I am in. Maybe the markers themselves had nothing to do with anything! That black space could be the extra rooms! But where are the extra rooms? Maybe I need to name them? Let's see what rooms is this place missing?" He scanned the map after a few minutes he started listing possibilities. "Ballroom… conservatory… trophy room…" The map looked the same and Draco stared ahead, cold eyes emotionless, and completely nonplused.

He sat there watching the little pegs move over the board. Surely they weren't just there as a distraction? That could be achieved so much easier, through magic to make them a part of the map. Something left out for hundreds of years, would be out for a reason important enough to need it out, wouldn't it??

He hoped so. "Pick up the peg," he said, staring straight at the nearest one. The peg obeyed its commands and flew into his palm. "Open the peg," he commanded, entirely sure that the peg would fly up his nose or something. But it unfolded to reveal a number, 4. "WHAT?! Unless they have numbers as part of their house I don't see what good this does me!" He was quickly visited by a vision of Gemini sitting in a room shaped like a gigantic 4, where everything in the room came in sets of fours. "The most obnoxious part about this, is that I can actually imagine it happening."

One by one, he opened the pegs. 4. 7. 2. 1. 5. 3. 1. 5. He had numbers. NUMBERS. Not pieces of a map, not clues, not even a "Haha, you fool, you're gonna die." Just little pieces of paper with numbers on them. Draco began massaging his temples, not because they hurt, but because he was so thoroughly annoyed that it seemed like the only thing to be done.

He slammed his hand down on the table and halfheartedly said "Get me home." Pretending to actually believe that just like the pegs had flown into his hand, he would fly straight through the wall and back to Hogwarts. But, it was no great shock to him when he found himself still in the chair.

"When I get my hands on that horrible little freak I will throttle her, kick the crap out of her, stick her in this tunnel, and install a speaker system so that I can taunt her and give her false clues while she tries to get out." Somehow just talking about revenge made him feel much better and very in control again. He was Draco Malfoy, and what was this? A pathetic board in some very poorly ventilated tunnel.

"Ok, these numbers mean something. Perhaps they stand for dates when things happened? No… it can't be, I don't know enough from that damned Professor Binn's class to have this be dates," he made a personal note to curse Professor Binn's once he was done with all this, if he ever indeed got out… 

Draco had taken just about all he could stomach with this board and its never-ending circles of non-answers. He stood up and stretched out his legs by striding around the tunnel. He stopped under the light of an overhead torch to read his watch. He had avoided looking at it before, simply because what good was it knowing how long he had been there when, he didn't know how long it would be until he was out. At the moment, he just wanted to satisfy his curiosity and do something besides stare at that blasted table. It was 6:30, only an hour and a half after he entered. That wasn't something he liked knowing, when he had already been annoyed by the circumstances. He started counting how long it had been since this journey began when, acting on inspiration, and determination, he sat down again and willed the pieces towards him. He started thinking in his head to arrange them like an equation.

"Three minus one, plus seven, divided by one, times two, minus five is thirteen, one plus three times four is five…no" And so he continued moving the eight pieces around, controlled by his thoughts. Eventually he picked the watch off his arm and thrust it into his pocket, along with the neglected wand, annoyed with himself for checking it again. "Three plus five, divided by one, times 2, minus 1, divided by three, plus four is…seven…damn." The mental list in his head of ones that didn't work mounted, as he continued to try. He had all day, no hurry, he would solve this confounded puzzle, and make Gemini eat it when he was done.

He was no longer tired, which still troubled him. Yet, that he was able to continue staying awake was the reason why, some indiscernible amount of time later, with his head lazily propped on his palm for support; silver hairs sliding into vision, he was able to try another arrangement. "Seven plus three plus five equals fifteen one plus five is six minus two is FOUR!" 

Draco stared at the papers, doing the math once more in his head and then in a controlled voice, because he expected another problem to arise, said "Move the papers to the black space." As they fitted themselves onto the board, he watched as they slowly turned into another part of the map. "What's next map?" He asked shrewdly. 

As he spoke, he looked up when he heard the sounds of a very old hinge turning. The stones ahead had melted away into a wooden door, which had swung open and beyond it Draco could see a path continuing, he slowly got out of the chair, leaving table and map behind, crossed the threshold, and hardly dared show his pleasure at moving on. Instead he contented himself to stare straight ahead and say "Gemini, you had better start running, because at this rate I'll be killing you, stuffing you for a pillow, and taking a nap on it this afternoon."

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Her progress didn't change much, either gargoyles were too tired to answer, or simply had no information to give her. She stopped asking more than once, if they didn't tell her anything she just kept walking. Therefore there weren't many times when she stopped for more than a few seconds.

The walls of the mansion were becoming darker, and the atmosphere wasn't nearly as inviting. Gemini was nearing the East Wing. Her intentions hadn't brought her there, but after checking everywhere else, this was the last place to look. Draco couldn't have dropped off the face of the earth. Someone had to have seen him. All the same, she wasn't afraid to admit her fear of the forbidden East Wing.

"Maybe, I'll just turn back? What are the chances of Draco having even found the East Wing?" She was trying to find some reason to not to good any further than she already was, which was much further than she had ever wanted to be.

"Oh, not her too. What a shame." came a light voice from her right.

"What a tragedy indeed, two in one night." a separate voice agreed.

Gemini turned; there were only gargoyles. "Did you just say something?" A dumb question, when it had obviously been them, but all the same, she asked.

"Yes, we did, we were commenting on what a pity it was that two of you should enter the East Wing, on the same night, too!"

"Two of us? Someone else was here?" 'Draco' she thought! 'Draco entered the East wing?!'

"Oh yes, there was a boy, tall, blonde, rather handsome if I do say so myself, and he went across to that wall, gave the answer and entered." She said this all in a rather sad voice, Gemini found it hard to believe a gargoyle could care so much, all the rest had been absolute monsters.

"And you LET him!?" 

"We tried, we warned him, he looked very tired, I don't think he heard a word we said." This came from the second gargoyle.

"What do you mean he went to the wall, gave the answer, and entered?" Gemini was confused, and tired, and didn't appreciate fishing for answers.

"We mean just that. He went over there, read what it said, gave the answer, and when the wall opened, he stepped through."

"Oh no…oh no, no, no…" Gemini was beyond belief. She ran to the end of the hallway, past more gargoyles who all attempted to warn her, and murmured what "a pity" it was. There was something written on the wall, obviously what the gargoyles had mentioned Draco reading.

You will find many versions of me

Yet only one is right

I can be bent, twisted, thrown away

I've been known to bite

In pure form I'm clear as day

You can find me in black and white

"Uhhh.." Gemini was have trouble taking this all in. Draco was in the East Wing. THE East Wing. Not the West Wing. The East Wing. And somehow she was supposed to figure out this riddle while trying to process all the rest of what was going on?

She resorted to reading it again. After a few minutes she said. "Oh crap, I don't know!…The truth?"

The wall shifted aside, allowing her passage. Chancing a look inside she saw the deep brick walls lined with torches. All of them lit. What to do? "I need to go after him, if he dies in my house that will be the end of me. I'd be a murderess. I'd never be allowed back in school without him!"

What was that on the floor? Someone's robes had gotten caught. Draco's robes. There was no doubt, he was inside. Crossing the threshold, her eyes apprehensively took in the scene around her. Seconds later the door closed behind her. There was no turning back.

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It was only a matter of time, mere minutes, before Sirius was standing in front of the last door, at the end of the corridor, after he had taken the left turn. Sliding the key into the lock, he glanced around, in case anyone was there, and then turned the key slowly until it clicked. He quickly pushed the door open, and slipped inside. 

He wandered around the room for a few minutes. He didn't really feel the need to hurry. There was a desk in the back of the room, it was clear, aside from a few papers and some pens in a holder. The walls were painted a pattern of blue and pink.

"Whoever painted this room obviously knew what it was going to be…"

He felt a little weirded-out by the fact of what he was about to do. He was going to check and find out if he was the father of a child he had never really met, from a mother he had a one night stand with years ago. This certainly didn't happen everyday.

"Well, it looks like I'm the only one here," he thought to himself. Each stack of boxes had a different letter on it, apparently they were arranged alphabetically. He was sure there must be some faster system to know where everything was, but whomever ran it was probably asleep at home.

So he positioned himself in front of the first box in the S group. Sagitta. It should be in one of the first boxes, there were about twenty per letter. 

When he located the right box, by looking at the first and last one in each box, he started the search for Gemini's name.

"Safra… Sasflomingo… Saturaniaze… Sausagu… Sagain… Sacteri… Sado… Saflaztod… Sagitta…Andromeda…Gemini…"

The first thing he noted was a yellow stamp on the front; though he didn't know it, the stamp meant that Gemini had not been born at that hospital, however her records had been transferred when her family moved.

Sirius began reading the document, "Full name…town…hospital…time…Mother's name: Andromeda Sagitta." He couldn't look, this was crazy. He turned the paper over, and was getting ready to place it back in the box, but part of him wanted to know. He couldn't just leave not knowing, after all he had gone through. Well he hadn't been through that much, but still, he wanted to know. He would always wonder if he didn't find out now, and when was he ever going to have this chance to be in the room where they held all the birth certificates, that weren't supposed to be available to people like him? 

He flipped the paper back over, "…Father's name: not given."

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So you'll have to tune in next time to see: Do Draco and Gemini catch up to each other? What does Sirius decide? Will Andromeda say anything? Does Gilderoy Lockhart notice the missing students? 

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Thanks for their awesomeness, to:

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Emma, don't worry now you know why Hermione was being that way! **Little Miss** sorry it took so long! **Lene** I know I'm cruel, and even crueler was that fact that for two months I didn't know what to do with the story…**Static (!) **Thank you thank you thank you for helping me out so much! What would I have done without you?! I don't know how I would have figured out what was going on with Draco, without your Draco wisdom! And your beta read was so great! **Everyone go check out ALL OF STATIC'S STORIES!!! HP Freak**, **Dauphin, Sarah Black** thank you and I agree, Sirius _is_ a babe!, **Bill Weasley's Girl** IM me to talk! **Zannuuh** thank you for the great review! **Sarah Black** I hope this isn't the same person twice! LOL! **Tabby** I'll talk to you online! **Kayle Jim, GEM,** **Beatles** thanks for the really nice review, **Ingenious, Morgana, Voodoo **thanks for the great review! **Silver Theory** yay! Someone came here after reading voices, _winks at static! _**Blotts, **thanks for your review! **M-Girl** thanks so much for your letter!, **Phoebe, **don't worry, he's already suspicous, **Holly** thanks for the nice, long, review! **Toga Lady, Nyias** thank you for _all_ your great reviews!

See you all next time, and feel free to make my day and leave a review! J

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	9. The Dark Room

So it's finally here, I know you probably thought it never would come, but I'm proud to present part 9. Thanks so much to the people who emailed and reviewed you are all priceless.

This chapter is filled with some interesting parts. Andromeda befriends a young man for help in the library, Sirius has was messed up dreams, a kiss in the cave, and just plain insanity all around. Enjoy!

Disclaimer from previous chapters.

Two Roads Diverged 

Chapter 9 -- The Dark Room

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Gemini clutched at her arms for warmth as she slowly made her way through the dark abyss. She had been walking for a bit now and her feet were beginning to ache. _Where is he? _she thought in a dismayed manner. _What if I never find him, this tunnel is too damn long and god knows where he is. _

She was feeling the heavy hand of disappointment and assurance that given his decent head start she would certainly never reach Draco, when she made a sharp turn and found herself directly infront of… no not a three headed dog, not a flaming pit, not a poisonous scorpion.. just a simple wooden table, chair, and a map.

__

A map? The same BLOODY map I spent hours searching for in the library at the break of dawn? So help me God if this is the same map I will flip. I will go insane, I will kill myself right here and now, right after I burn that damned map, and kill whomever has such a wonderful sense of humor! She glanced down at the map and in the bottom right corner it had the page number 1642.

"AHHHH!" She screamed out loud. "I am officially flipping out!" She kicked the leg of the table and bent down to massage her foot upon discovering a bit late that wooden table legs don't feel so great when kicked. 

__

I'm just so glad to know that this map is being put to such great use, Her voice dripped with sarcasm_ sitting around a few million years in a dark, dusty, damp, TUNNEL!_ _Who the hell needs a map when they are trapped in a tunnel? I could make a map for this tunnel! All I would need to do is take a piece of paper and a black marker and cross the whole thing out! Because that's the only landmark you'll find, darkness! 'Make a right turn after you have walked for five and half minutes, you'll know it's the right turn because the pitch blackness makes the abrupt change to **almost** pitch blackness!'_

She was just so unbelievably frustrated with everything. Draco was missing in action, she had attempted to find a map to locate him and all the while he was moving further away and then the map she wasted all that time on, while he was in the east wing was actually in there with him. What was wrong with her life. Honestly.

__

What in the world do I need a map for, now? But then her gaze landed on the wooden door, still slightly ajar. _He's been here already, and moved on. He must have done something to open that door, with this map I suppose. _She pocketed it carefully. Not wanting to leave it behind after all the annoyance it had caused her. _But if he's been here spent time solving it, and moved on who's to say that he isn't miles away, hours away, already hurt or killed by the next obstacle…_

Gemini shook her head harshly. Absolutely not. Under no circumstances would she allow herself to even toy with the idea that Draco may or may not be perfectly alright. _He's fine._ She reassured herself. _He's fine because if he's not fine I'm not fine… Whatever got him will get me and won't that just be swell. They could make up ghost stories about me that little muggles can tell as they sit around campfires roasting their dratted marshmallows. "The Story of Gemini, the Girl Lost in the Tunnel of Doom." They had better describe me as beautiful and clever and Draco as a bumbling mumbling git who was the downfall of us both…_

The door still remained infront of her, open and with no light let through, so she approached it slowly. _How do I know that there isn't something lurking just behind that door? Maybe the table and map weren't the task at all.. maybe the task is some horrible monster waiting to lure me into a state of calm and tranquility until I open that door and then he will…_

Sucking in her breath and moving as quietly, with as refined moves as she could possibly make, Gemini crept towards the wooden door. She had her wand firmly clenched in her hand, ready to ward off any unwanted findings, and she proceeded to push the door open with ever such precision.

For a moment the entire world seemed to stop. Time halted, the air turned cold, the atmosphere sinister and unsure as she turned an everyday task into an Olympic even full of skill, presentation, and worry. The door emitted a slight squeak, but it was enough to make Gemini nearly jump out of her skin.

The door was finally open completely, sticking her head forward she prepared for the worst. She was met with absolutely nothing, well nothing but a path that was identical from the one behind her. A calm washed over her in waves of relief as she allowed her body to relax from the tensioned state it had taken on.

__

Pull yourself together she scolded herself harshly. _If you get that worked up over nothing, forget about evil minions from hell, you will be the death of yourself before they even have the chance. _

Still as firm as her words were she knew they were little more than that, simply words, nothing more or of great meaning. _I wish I wasn't alone in here…I wish I had someone for company. I'm almost desperate enough to actually want Malfoy around. Better have myself mentally examined…._

And so she continued along her not-so-merry way. Every shadow in the distance seemed to be one more monster waiting to attack her, and every echo of her step seemed to be really the sound of an approaching murderer. Every moment reminded her of just how alone she was, and how far behind she truly was. _Will I ever find Malfoy? Or am I doomed to wander here forever? Would anyone even notice if I never turned up. They'd notice Malfoy missing, prestige and power are always missed. But who would realize that the new unknown foreign student hadn't turned up to classes or meals. Even my own mother can't tell when my letters are sent from within this very castle. Does anyone really care at all?_

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Andromeda was still in the library continuing her search for information. She had currently succeeded in brushing off the confusion and all together unhappiness about her lack of findings for Cassiopeia. _That librarian is the most incompetent person I've ever met she _attempted to reassure herself. _If she can't find me information I'll just have to find it for myself._

Andromeda looked up and cast a wondering glance around the room. Her eyes landed on a young boy, of maybe seventeen or eighteen sitting a few tables away. He was wearing a name tag in bright blue lettering it said _Sean._ He was quite handsome, with big blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a wonderful complexion that would have sent any teenage girl crying about unfairness. _If I wasn't here for something else I'd consider telling this boy about Gemini…_

Andromeda picked herself from her chair and trudged by the few bare tables separating herself and Sean. Reaching his table she sat down across from him. She almost smiled at him but then realized _He's going to think I'm trying to flirt with him, and get weirded out and leave before I even have the chance to tell him that I just want his help._

She realized now that he was staring at her. _Damn…I've been sitting here almost a minute lost in my own thought and not said a word about why I'm here. Now he thinks I'm insane..And why the hell am I still talking to myself after noticing this!_

Sean was now shifting a little uncomfortably. "Can I help you?" he broke the ice first.

Andromeda was grateful to him from pulling herself out of the depth of her mind where she had become lost in thought. "Yes, you see I had the librarian run a search for me over there-"

"Bad idea" he cut her off. Andromeda just gaped at him, not offended that he had stopped her from talking, but amazed that he might actually have some help for her. _If this guy makes me like him any more I won't be able to stop myself from giving him Gemini's address…_

"Really?" she inquired, interestedly, hoping to prod him into explaining himself.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this but…She's a little crazy sometimes, I think she's supposed to take medicine…to get over her husband leaving her but she refuses to take it, and half the time she just types in his name for the search in an attempt to locate him. That terminal doesn't search by hearing her read off letters, it searches by writing out the words on a little pad next to it." Sean leaned a little closer to Andromeda, signaling that the information he was about to give her was just between the two of them. "The guy left her about two or three years ago, just packed up and left in the middle of the night… but the same night one of the other librarians, about ten years younger also... dissappeared. Her name was Natashia, we think they live locally under another name, but who could tell for sure…"

Andromeda was fascinated. _Maybe he can help…_ "Why do they let her be librarian if she's so unstable… how many people must have come here for help and been turned away thinking there was no information!" _Like me!_ She yelled mentally.

"They keep her around because they don't have the heart to get a replacement. It would drive her over the edge. This job is all she has. A chance to sit up there, feel important, shine those smiles everyone wants to punch, and I suppose the board directors like to pretend that if something is that important people won't stop searching just because one librarian was unable to help them…" He gave Andromeda a crooked smile, as though he could read her mind, and he knew the deep disagreements she had, but begged her not to voice them.

"Can you help me?" She almost thought it was too much to hope for.

"Yeah… but that terminal is really your only chance at getting any information at all. You'd have to convince her to leave it for a while, possibly up to fifteen minutes before I could locate those books… if there are any."

Andromeda just sat there for a moment. _How can I distract a woman whose entire life is this library to leave her post for fifteen seconds.. let alone fifteen minutes… But it's my only chance. _ Her stomach felt very heavy like molten lava had solidified inside, she knew that if she didn't get that annoying woman out of the area for a while there would be no information to be had.

She slipped her hand inside her robe pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, she copied the name of the doctor and medication onto it and slid it across the table. "I need information about both of those."

He nodded in understanding and folded the paper before putting it safely in his pocket.

Andromeda stood up ad glancing down at him said, "Be ready I'm going to go up there now. And work quickly I don't know how long I can possibly distract her… or bare her company."

Andromeda strode across the library back to the familiar main desk. She propped her hands on it and leaned down, staring at Linny. It was hard but she forced a smile onto her face and said "Hi!"

Linny looked shocked. She glanced to both her sides and behind her to be quite sure that this exuberant welcome was for her. "Hey!" She smiled back, that same sincere, happy, simple, smarmy, annoying smile. "How are you?"

"I'm great but a little hungry. I was wondering if you'd come have some breakfast with me. I'm dying to hear more about you." Andromeda then gritted her teeth together, in a desperate attempt to sound truthful.

"Well… I really can't just abandon the library… people might need my help and its my job to be here." She looked solemn and serious now, the library truly was her first concern.

"Linny… Linny… Linny… don't you keep up with the calendar? Today is librarian appreciation day! Let me take you out to breakfast, I'm sure everyone would understand." Andromeda now gestured around the room to show all the people who she was sure would understand.

"Librarian appreciation day…?" Linny bent down to flip through her pocket day planer. "Today isn't librarian appreciation day…" She looked doubtfully up at Andromeda. 

"Errrm…" Andromeda did the first thing she could think of and bent over, taking the daily planner out of Linny's hand and flicked to the back, "This was made in America, and everyone knows they don't have Librarian appreciation day. There's a limit to the amount of holiday's allowed over there. They replaced it with Ground Hog's day."

"Really? That sounds awful…"

"Horrible. Now come on and I'll take you somewhere really special." She reached across the table and grabbed Linny's arm, dragging her across the library to fireplace.

"Where are we going?" Linny seemed very excited, she was positively beaming, though maybe it was just her normal smile…

"To the Librar!" It was the first place that popped into her mind as she stood there ushering Linny towards the open grate, noticing Sean approaching the desk out of the corner of her eye.

"That's so sweet of you!" Linny exclaimed.

Andromeda just stood there… she had no idea why it was so sweet, she had better let Linny tell her.

"Librarian… Librar… you must have planned this! How can I thank you enough?!" 

"By going now so we don't miss our reservations," she said as she thrust floo powder into the fireplace and then pushed Linny in. "You first after all it is Librarian appreciation day! To the Librar!" She announced, practically screamed.

Just as Linny dissappeared she saw Sean sit behind the desk, and as she stepped into the fireplace her gave her a smile and the thumbs up which she happily returned.

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"Father's name: not given."

The words turned over in his head. The name wasn't there, how was he supposed to get closure out of this. This was a severe let down from what he had been expecting. In some locked away part of his mind that he didn't dare acknowledge, he knew that he had never wanted to find his name on the sheet. He had wanted someone else to fork all this onto. Some tangible name that could roll off your tongue into a sentence of wondrous reassurance. Of hope, for situations avoided, pain passed, worry banished, fear and wonder stomped out.

Essentially he had a huge naked question mark dancing around in front of him, and question marks were not attractive. He crossed the short distance to the door and opened it, closing it firmly behind him. He didn't know why but he was feeling an extreme anticlimax. _What does this all mean?_ He asked himself, but the only answer was that he had no answer. 

__

What do I do now? And then he realized… he had no clue what was to be done. His mind had taken the leap from go to the hospital to receive an answer, down one of the two clear cut paths that would follow the yes or no. What was this third path, so untraveled, so unmarked, uncharted, undesirable.

__

Why am I getting so worried? There's nothing to worry about. Most likely this doesn't concern me… He attempted to reassure himself, despite his own insecurities. He could feel something rising in his chest, but what it was he couldn't place. Approaching the counter to return Natashia's key he continued to ponder his own actions _But what if it does…_ he thought as he removed the chain from his pocket, placing it in her out streched hand.

She flashed him a beautiful smile. Such a confident smile that it didn't even falter slightly upon receiving no smile in return. She was so perfectly free, most likely her biggest problem was if her shoes matched her earrings, which needed to match her lip stick as well. He almost envied her. And then she spoke.

"If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were blowing me off earlier. But obviously I shouldn't let my mind run away like that. Since you seem to be done now, how about that tour?" She managed to make a simple tour sound like a seductive invitation, which he realized it probably was.

"I really don't know, I have so much to figure out right now."

She leaned over the counter pushed aside his stray locks of hair as she spoke so softly and sweetly into his ear that he almost felt a tremor of intrigue whip through him before she had even finished saying, "I'm sure I can distract you.."

He was about to politely refuse, as politely as one can refuse a personal invitation to a snog session when his brain started contemplating. _Most likely you've been worrying over nothing. You're just so tired, no sleep recently, jumping to conclusions like this is always a bad idea. And besides, just look at her… _

"Ok, I'd like that." He said, and even her experienced and solid façade fell exposing her utter shock at the words he had just spoken. He too was surprised. _She's a tramp._ He told himself, but it didn't have too much of an affect and he was about to ponder why when he realized with a sharp pang _So am I, whatever you'd call a man tramp, I am. Not a man-whore, but almost._ He never realized that that was what he had been, not what he still was or needed to be.

Sirius accepted her outstretched hand as they began to walk away from the counter. "Shouldn't someone be watching the table?" he asked, though he didn't much care.

"It'll be fine, I've left it before and it's always been there when I've come back."

They walked a bit in silence before he decided to say something. "So what are we going to look at?" he asked, seriously doubting what a hospital could possibly contain worth seeing.

"I was hoping we'd start with this room, here." She pointed to a door a little while ahead on their left. 

__

Looks like an average enough room to me… In all actuality he knew she most likely didn't want to give him a tour of the hospital, but he was so extremely fatigued that all he really wanted to do was be painfully stupid and ignore the obvious signs that were flying his way a mile a minute.

She turned the handle when they stopped walking and entered the room, she slipped in motioning him to follow suit. The room was so unlit that he had to squint to make out her shape as it walked towards the center of the room, and he knew there was no way she could see any better than he could.

"So as the first stop on the tour, this is the hospitals dark room." He didn't need to see her to know that she was smiling.

"I'm guessing you don't develop your film in here…" he trailed off.

But he received no response, in place of a response he suddenly felt her approaching him. And then there she was. She placed her mouth firmly over his, and wrapped one leg around him, making him feel as though surely every inch of their bodies was touching.. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, the way she kissed him, so hungrily as though she could devour him, he felt as though he had found someone who could actually match his passion. He felt her hand slide up his shirt to rest on chest and was sliding his arm around her waist in attempt to draw her closer… if possible when he was suddenly struck with the most devastating mental image ever. 

It was as though he could see Andromeda standing acorss from him, knowing what he was doing. And yet she didn't seem shocked, it looked as though she had expected exactly this. And he could hear his own voice and what he had said to her

"You wish I had, so that you could pretend that you had nothing to do with anything that happened that night, so that you could add your name to the list of Women taken advantage of by Sirius Black. I'm here to let you know, my dear, you'll be hard pressed to find any such list."

Maybe there was a list… and maybe it was getting longer by the minute because of what he was doing right now…

He drew away. Natashia looked confused as they both separated, breathing hard. 

"I'm sorry.. I just.. I have to go Natashia." He said, and then he disapparated away, leaving her alone and confused in the hospital's "Dark Room."

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No… his mind moaned in dispair. _Not another thing to do…I just solved a freaking map and now I have to deal with some other obstacle. I think not. _

Of course it didn't quite matter what he thought because it didn't change the reality of the fact that looming in the short distance some metres away was a small pit, well relatively small it stretched the width of the path and was just long enough to prevent jumping across.

Now normally such a pit would have been absolutely invisible and Draco would have stumbled across it slowly, plummeting to his doom, but this was not the case. The pit was glowing a strange light shade of yellow. 

__

Well I'm obviously supposed to have some chance at crossing, or surely whomever made this would have skipped the mellow yellow, and let me simply fall all the way down. He attempted to reassure himself. _But if I was meant to continue, they could have just left out the huge death trap and perhaps replaced it with something more agreeable, perhaps a box of puppies or dandelions… Maybe he;s really just sadistic and would love to see me die trying.. If so I'd love to meet him…_ Draco was now peering over into the pit, attempting to surmise it's depth. _About fifty feet atleast_ he thought to himself_ but maybe more, I can't see a bottom._

He then noticed a slip of paper, on the ground in a corner, he picked it up and held it over the pit for light. It read:

Imagine a place where one's fears do not matter

A land where all things dangerous can be tried and won

Where you can fly through your problems

Reality isn't real and danger isn't dangerous

Nothing to fear but fear itself

__

Fly through them huh? Well ok then, Draco stood up steeped back a few yards and took a huge flying leap across the pit. He thought he had crossed it, when he felt a huge wall smack into him, and he was thrown back to the ground on the side of the pit with the original piece oh paper.

__

Well it's not like I can summon my broom from in here…so how am I supposed to 'fly through them'…

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When Andromeda materialized in the Librar it was to find Linny waiting uncertainly by the fireplace. The same man as before was now standing infront of Andomeda eyeing her severly. "It's you again is it?" 

Andromeda could feel Linny shifting next her, obviously not missing the dislike that practically dripped from the host's voice. Andromeda flung her arms around him. "I'm so glad to see you again! How are you! I've been meaning to stop by. This is my good friend Linny we're here celebrating Librarian appreciation day! Be a dear and fetch us a table, will you? The reservations are under the name Sagitta." She babbled on.

The host looked very confused as he peeled himself away from Andromeda and glanced down at a list of reservations. "I am sorry but you most definitely do not have a reservation."

Andromeda turned to Linny and smiled "Silly guy he forgets a lot, every time I come here it's the same old deal." She turned back to her shocked 'friend' "Don't worry, I'll just go take my usual seat, I assure you it won't reflect on your tip." She winked and motioned Linny to follow her to a table by the window, which Andromeda had never sat at before in her life.

The man just stood aside and let them pass, muttering something under his breath about pushy Americans.

A few scones and a cup of coffee later Andromeda was ready to stick a fork in her leg to be sure she was still alive and that Linny hadn't bored her to actually and not only figurative death. They had covered the topics of Linny's schooling, the let down of not making a Quidditch team, her first date, her husband, the Dewey decimal system… 

"I really have to go, I hope you've enjoyed yourself." Andromeda said as she laid out the money for the food. 

"This was the best Librarian appreciation day I've ever celebrated! I can't thank you enough!" 

"Don't mention it." Andromeda tried to smile but found her face hurt too much from all the fake smiles.

"We have to do this again sometime, we could become such great friends, and do things together like shopping, and coffee, and manicures, and double dates, and-"

"Definitely, here you go," Andromeda cut her off. She removed another slip of paper and wrote a phone number down on it.. the phone number that was on the back of the Librar's buisness card. She handed it to Linny, gave her a quick hug and left as quickly as possible.

Back at the library twenty minutes later, she had needed to wait a while before slipping back in, she found Sean at the same table. "Hey, glad to see you back, I thought you weren't coming you were gone about fourty-five minutes, at least."

"Don't remind me… did you find anything?" she prayed for the strength to not kick the crap out of him if he said no. "Yeah, he pointed to a stack of three books on the table, I checked them out for you since I figured you wouldn't be able to go back to Linny after that."

"Thanks!" she said with real meaning. Then on inspiration, "I have a daughter, Gemini, she's at Hogwarts, you should write her sometime if you want to do something."

"Thanks, I just might." Though the smile he gave Andromeda could have meant anything.

****

****

Back in the hospital of Hogwarts Gilroy Lockhart was rereading his favorite book… _Magical Me._ He was dressed in a white coat and pants with a little white hat.

__

Time to check on my patients he thought to himself happily. But just as he was about to cross the room there was another knock on the door. He opened it to find to familiar looking girls standing outside.

"Oh! They said it was you but we had to see for ourselves! I'm Parvati and this is Lavendar! We were in your defense against the dark arts class." They were beaming and heavily scented with perfume.

"Nice to see you girls" He smiled the same knowing smile at them and said, "How can I help you?"

"Well we have to get back to breakfast but before we go can we have your autograph please?" They looked at him with big pleading eyes.

"But of course, I always carry a stack around with me where ever I go." He reached in his pants pocket and pulled out two signed photographs of himself, there were both primping themselves, holding up mirrors.

"Thanks so much!" They giggled in delight. 

"Think nothing of it, girls." He closed the door behind them. Then stood there for a moment thinking to himself _Wasn't I going to do something? Oh yes, go get breakfast before it's gone! _ And with that he exited the office as well.

****

****

Sirius was at home again. He had finally fallen into an uneasy slumber. He was tossing and turning in a very distressed manner. 

__

He was old, perhaps seventy or eighty. And he was walking down the street, all alone. People passed him hand in hand with happy families but he strode down the street with no one else. 

To the side of him he saw a little boy hand in hand with his father. "I'm so excited to go see a Quidditch game!" The little boy announced, and the father looked lovingly at his son and said "I know, let's hurry before we're late." They looked so happy together, as if it was normal for them.

Crossing another way was a mother and daughter. For one split second he thought they were coming for him. And his heart felt elated. He started to run towards them with his arms wide stretched, and they were smiling. But then he realized their smiles were not for him, they were for someone else. A man made his way to them and gave them a quick hug, then linked hands with them. He was part of their lives, not Sirius.

He saw couples walking hand in hand, women holding flowers, happily skipping down the side walk. And every restaurant window seemed to show people together with other people. People aside from him.

He fell to the ground, head spinning in pain, heart physically hurting. The street seemed overcast now, dark and dreary. But then one woman came out of the blackness and approached him. She was wearing an indecently low cut top, with a tight black skirt and matching leather boots. She was beautiful, and as she approached him he felt his heart stop. She came right up to him and said "Don't worry, you're special, all those people are with each other, well I'm with you." And she gave him a devilish smile.

He reached out happily to put his arm around her. But it went right through her, and she disappeared, replaced by another similar woman, but this one with blonde hair. He tried hold her hand but she too vanished before his eyes. And everyone woman he had was the same, beautiful and gorgeous, but no longer there when he tried to embrace her. He was special. Because while all those other people had found their lives, he was alone, perhaps not physically, but mentally. He would always be alone.

He woke up with a start and looked around, expecting to find himself in a dark alleyway. But he was surprised to see that he was in his bed, in his quiet house, soaked in sweat from his horrible dream. He peeled off his shirt and went into the bathroom to shower away not only the sweat, by the horrible feeling of the dream.

He was out of the shower in clean clothes, but his mind felt just as troubled as before. He couldn't understand his dream. Or he just didn't want to. _I need to see Andromeda_ he thought to himself. _I need to go find out the truth. Maybe she's some crazy woman and that comment didn't mean anything. But maybe it does and if it does I need to know. _

He walked outside and picked up his broomstick, perhaps a flight to Sagitta estate would give him the necessary time to clear his mind. He hoped so.

****

****

Gemini was walking slowly down the path when she saw something move far in the distance. _Was that just my imagination or was that really something?_ She was suddenly very afraid to continue, if it was Draco that would be good… right? _But what if it's not Draco? What if it's someone…something that killed Draco and now is going to kill me too?_

There was no way to be sure. She slinked slowly down the corridor and hoped against hope that it would be him. _Let it be him, oh please, it just has to be him…_

Draco must have heard Gemini approaching because he turned around a few seconds later. A light from somewhere she couldn't discern cast a shine across his face which clearly identified him, and she sent up a silent thank you.

__

I found him! He's here! He's not dead! That means I won't be dead! This is great! And now I won't be all alone in this horrible place!

She began to run towards him and when she finally reached Draco she thrust her arms around him clinging on for all she was worth. He was real and solid, and definitely there. She wasn't hugging him for long though before he had savagely pushed her away. 

His face betrayed no signs of happiness to see her at all. "What are you doing, Sagitta?" it was the same Malfoy, down to the ability to make her name sound common and lowly.

"'What are you doing Sagitta?'" she repeated him. "You're lost in this **bloody** cave, I had to come out here and find you. I thought you might be dead which would make me dead to return without you. I bust my arse to track you down and that's what you have to say?" She was extremely put off.

"Well I'm glad to see you were so worried about my health," he began coolly, "but I never asked you to find me, and I sure as heck didn't expect you to come barreling down her throwing yourself on me like some navy seal who hasn't gotten any in months."

"I did not throw myself at you, you smarmy git. But I'll try and forget it, since you wouldn't know the difference between the two because no girl has or ever will throw herself at you, so I can see why you might be confused. No girl would ever want a horrible person like **you**."

"You really think so?" His voice was inviting and just spoiling for a fight.

"I know so." She hoped that her severe dislike for him was conveyed through the darkness.

"I think you're wrong…" his eyes shimmered in the light.

"Oh yeah, and what proof have you got to back that up with." She spat the words at him.

"This," he took the few short steps to close the distance between them and sealed his mouth over hers. She was backed up against the wall of the tunnel, and she could feel the closeness of his entire body pressing against hers. It sent electric shocks through her body. Some distant part of her mind and body desperately wanted to open her mouth and return the kiss, to be enveloped by someone strong and smart who could worry for her and protect her. She wanted to run her hands through his hair and simply succumb to the wonderful heat that she could feel coursing through her veins, and the intoxicating smell of peppers and spices that lingered around him. She could feel her senses blurring and her self-control slipping away. It would be so easy to throw herself into the moment and forget where she was, what she was doing, and what she had done. It was so difficult to think reasonably when this chance to just _be_ was presenting it self so closely, simply seconds away. She didn't want to be reasonable, she wanted to be stupid, and rash, and she just wanted to **be** wanted. To have something that made her feel accepted and important, not that new girl no one cared about, or the daughter of a mother who was unstable at best. But then she realized who it was who had their mouth over hers. And who the arms that were sliding around her back to pull her closer belonged to. _Draco Malfoy_ her mind spat. She wanted to be wanted but not like this. She wanted to be confused but not insane. She wanted to be protected but not by the devil himself. And before she could think of something better to do she pulled back and then raised her arm and slapped him hard across the face.

He stumbled back in the darkness, holding his hand to his face. She was breathing hard, still remembering the sensation of being kissed by the guy she most likely loathed most out of everyone she knew. It was over powering, like two opposite ends of a pair of magnets were attracting. But she had pulled the two magnets apart and stomped out both of them because this was Draco Malfoy, he defied all rules.

Then she heard the annoying sound of laughter. "What the hell are you laughing about you arse. And why the hell did you do that. If you ever so much as touch me again I will beat your brains in with a croquet mallet."

"You're such a gullible fool, Sagitta." The words rolled off his tongue slowly, leisurely, as though the occurrences of just a few moments ago didn't matter at all to him.

"What do you mean?" She had a nasty feeling she knew.

"I didn't kiss you because I wanted to, I kissed you to prove _you_ wanted to. And after the way you hung there limply for a few moments almost ready to let me before you struggled back to the way you think you should feel, you can hardly deny it. As for me, I don't think my mouth will ever be clean again." His voice had a razor sharp edge to it and he drew his arm across his lips as though trying to clean them.

"You self absorbed, conceited, pompous, arrogant, arse-hole!" She walked across to him and with both hands shoved him harshly backwards. She expected him to fall onto the ground, or trip and stumble a bit, but never in her lifetime would she have expected him to fall into the pit which she had, in the rush of the last few minutes, totally failed to realize.

He didn't even have time to scream before the hit. The only thing was that it wasn't a hit at all he felt a strong sensation as though he were being pulled every direction at once. Gemini had just fallen to the floor to peer into the pit, when she saw him materialize directly infront of her, on the opposite side of pit.

__

What… her mind started to trail off.

Draco simply stood on the opposite edge, attempting to pretend he had known that would happen all along, he looked smug. "See, starring over the edge of the pit, afraid you had" and here he took on a very feminine voice and continued "lost me forever." He draped one arm across his forehead dramatically.

"No, more like making sure you were really dead before starting the party. Unfortunately I was expecting a let down like this."

Draco paid her no mind as he pulled the paper out of his pocket, "I suppose that's what the clue meant…" 

"What clue?" she questioned.

"Well before you arrived ever so fashionably late I found this pit and a little clue, but I didn't know what it meant. Now I realize it meant for me to jump in."

"See! If I hadn't thrown you in you never would have figured it out."

"Alright then that's a plus 10 for stupidly blundering across the right answer through no real knowledge of you own, and a minus 50,000 for almost committing homidcide. Be proud."

"Oh I will…ummm… am I supposed to jump in too?" She tried to keep the fear out of her voice.

She hadn't succeeded though, "What's the matter? Sagitta is afraid of the big bad pit, oh no! Well you can just stay here and rot while I go on, I'll send you a post card."

"I'm not afraid, I was just asking." She stepped closer to the pit, peered in and thought to herself _I hope I don't die in a tunnel with Malfoy, please God save me from this and then let me die in some freak Ping-Pong accident, but not in a tunnel with Malfoy._

She stepped in and when she appeared on the other side she gave on look to Draco and said. "Come on, lets leave the pit of death behind."

****

****

And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed it! Please make my day and leave a review J 

Thanks is definitely deserving to everyone who wonderfully reviewed, all the thanks in the world to:

Marvoless (fear not Harry shall not save this day), Mephisto, elf, Samantha, Lene (you are the best, simply the best thank you for all the reviews!), Ingenious, Fleur Weasley, Helpless, Megdalina, Andrew, SupernauralAngel, Nagini, Material Girl, Sirius White, Ann, Zannuuh, Moony Lupin, Static (write to me darlin!), Tabby, Cheerangel503, M-Girl, Nyias, Sarah Black, Dauphin, Persephone malfoy, and of course Bill Weasley's Girl J 

My mail box gets empty so fill it up and write to me, I'd love to hear from anyone who wants to drop me a line!

Thanks for reading, now please review! And I hope I see you all soon when I post the next part, till then—

Alissa


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